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EBBLES 


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ATRICK 


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Pedagogical  Pebbles 


BY 

J.  N.  PATRICK,  A.  M. 

Author  of '" Lessons  in  English,"  "Essentials  of  English' 

ANQ 

1  'Elements  of  Pedagogics. ' ' 


Every  man's  task  is  his  life-preserver."— Emerson. 


BECKTOLD  &  CO., 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 


?3<t 


Copyright,  1895, 

BY 

J.  N.  PATRICK. 


EDUCATION  DEPT. 


Preface. 


These  "Pebbles"  were  suggested  and  jotted  down 
while  I  was  engaged  in  the  actual  supervision  of  graded 
school  work.  This  account  of  their  origin  explains  the 
form  in  which  they  are  presented.  Each  pebble  is 
independent,  being  related  to  the  others  only  in  the 
order  of  its  birth. 

The  book  aims  to  be  merely  suggestive.  The  teacher 
who  needs  more  than  suggestion  needs  more  than  detail. 
A  teacher's  greatest  need  is  inspiration,  not  direction. 
No  copyist  ever  inspired  a  dull  pupil.  We  have  already 
had  too  much  copying.  No  one  ever  achieved  suc- 
cess in  the  school  room  by  blindly  following  authority. 
Success  in  teaching  comes  from  a  conscious  knowledge 
of  correct  methods  and  tact  in  applying  them. 

This  little  book  is  not  a  school  room  guide.  It  has 
a  higher  mission  than  mere  direction.  It  is  a  modest 
attempt  to  call  the  attention  of  young  teachers  to  many 
small  points  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching 
which  they  may  not  have  learned  in  the  study  of  peda- 
gogy. It  is  published  in  the  hope  that  it  may  lead 
many  teachers  to  look  within  for  the  inspiration,  pur- 
pose, and  self-reliance   which  make  teaching  real. 

c*      x  ™  -,o„r  J-  N.  Patrick. 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June,  1895.  J 

«•  «        544291 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Preface - 3 

Contents       4 

PART  I. 

General  Suggestions 5-46 

PART  II. 

Speciae  Suggestions 47-93 

Reading 4°-52 

Speeding 53~54 

Language 55-62 

Arithmetic    ----------  63-7G 

Geography "       77-82 

History 83-84 

Foundation  Facts 85-93 


PART  FIRST. 
General  Suggestions. 


"Thou 

That  Teachest 

Another 

Teachest  Thou  Not 

Thyself?" 


\\ 


Pedagogical  Pebbles. 


1  The  teacher  is  on  the  decline  who  does  not  find  in 
the  presence  of  a  class  of  children  the  inspiration  which 
fills  him  with  the  spirit  of  love  and  helpfulness. 


2  In  the  primary  grades  the  teacher  is  the  only  source 
of  inspiration.  During  the  first  four  years  of  a  child's 
school  life,  fifteen  minutes  a  day  with  a  breathing 
teacher  is  worth  more  to  him  than  an  hour  with  a 
text-book.  With  pupils  under  ten  years  of  age  the 
teacher  is  the  text-book. 


3  The  one  great  habit  which  pupils  should  acquire 
during  the  first  four  years  of  school  life  is  that  of  self- 
reliance.  Facts  are  valuable,  but  habits  are  more 
valuable.  The  teacher  who  helps  a  pupil  to  acquire 
proper  habits  of  study  has  done  him  a  substantial 
service.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  establish  cor- 
rect habits  of  study.  Method  is  the  mother  of  habit. 
Habit  is  self.  

4  The  most  impressible  period  of  a  child's  school  life 
is  spent  in  the  primary  grades.  Easy  and  careless 
teaching  during  that  period  is  intellectually  destructive. 
Under  the  direction  of  timid  and  ignorant  inexperience, 
children  acquire  habits  that  the  tact  and  the  patience  of 
even  the  ablest  teachers  cannot  always  dislodge.  As 
children  acquire  but  little  lasting  information  in  the 
primary  grades,  they  should  acquire  correct  habits  of 
vii 


$,  ,<,,.'■;;        PFJDA0OGICAL  PEBBLES. 

study.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  six  year  old  child 
should  not  be  as  correctly  taught  as  the  twelve  year 
old  child.  In  the  primary  grades  especially,  the 
teacher's  presence  should  be  felt  as  well  as  seen. 
Earnestness,  energy,  and  sympathy  on  the  part  of  a 
primary  teacher  usually  find  a  ready  response  in  the 
heads  and  the  hearts  of  little  ones. 


5  During  the  first  four  years  of  school  life,  a  pupil 
should  master  the  mechanical  part  of  reading  and  the 
fundamental  rules  of  arithmetic.  In  reading,  he  should 
learn  to  call  words  readily  and  correctly;  he  should 
learn  the  meaning  and  the  use  of  punctuation  marks; 
he  should  learn  something  of  emphasis  and  inflection. 
In  arithmetic,  he  should  master  the  four  fundamental 
rules.  He  should  be  able  when  he  enters  the  grammar 
grade  to  add  numbers  as  rapidly  as  he  can  speak  results; 
to  read  differences  and  quotients  as  quickly  as  he  names 
words  in  the  reading  lessons.  This  the  average  pupil 
can  do,  if  he  is  properly  taught  the  work  of  each  grade. 

6  If  a  pupil  does  not  acquire  correct  reading  habits  in 
the  first  four  grades,  the  chances  are  that  he  will  never 
acquire  them.  If  he  does  not  learn  to  do  the  work  of 
the  fundamental  rules  in  arithmetic  in  accordance  with 
the  established  laws  of  mind  and  facts  of  number,  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  hesitate  and  blunder,  in  the 
merely  mechanical  work  of  arithmetic,  throughout  life. 
The  place  for  the  most  exact  teaching  is  in  the  first 
four  grades.  Only  the  most  conscientious,  competent, 
and  earnest  teachers  should  be  placed  in  those  grades. 
The  determining  habits  of  pupils  are  formed  in  the 
primary  grades. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  9 

7  No  one  who  has  not  been  trained  in  a  training  school, 
or  in  the  actual  work  of  the  school-room  and  at  the 
expense  of  children,  can  properly  teach  or  govern  chil- 
dren. The  bad  habits  acquired  by  pupils  under  the  mis- 
direction and  indifference  of  unthinking  and  immature 
boys  and  girls,  are  known  only  to  those  who  have  given 
the  subject  intelligent  consideration.  A  school  may  be 
a  help  or  a  hinderance;  which,  depends  entirely  upon 
the  kind  of  teacher  it  has.  The  ideals  which  it  creates 
may  bless  or  blight.  It  is  a  self-evident  fact  that  wrong 
methods  of  instruction  establish  wrong  habits  of  think- 
ing. Pleasure  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  depends 
upon  methods  of  study.  The  mind  when  properly 
exercised  is  always  pleased  with  its  experiences. 


8  The  recitation  of  the  words  of  a  text-book,  without 
ample  illustration,  is  a  school  room  farce.  Without  the 
ability  to  illustrate,  a  pupil  learns  much  he  will  never 
know;  that  is,  he  merely  recites  the  words  of  another, 
and  mere  recitation  does  not  involve  the  understanding; 
it  has  little  intellectual  or  moral  value.  Ample  and 
clear  illustration  by  the  pupil  is  the  only  measure  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  lesson,  hence  teachers  should  insist 
upon  illustrations  of  definitions  and  rules. 


9  The  three  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  American 
school  children  are,  (1)  the  youth  of  many  of  the 
teachers,  (2)  the  lack  of  training  on  the  part  of  a  large 
majority  of  teachers,  (3)  the  use  of  too  many  text-books 
in  the  lower  grades.  Text-books  have  put  many 
schools  to  sleep.  Humdrum,  text-book  recitations  soon 
stupify  the  brightest  class. 


io  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

10  Sound  methods  put  the  burden  of  the  work  upon  the 
pupils.  The  successful  teacher  does  not  recite  the 
lesson  for  the  pupils  nor  feed  them  with  suggestive 
questions.  He  talks  but  little.  Pupils  go  to  school 
not  to  learn  to  lean  upon  teachers  and  books,  but  to  be 
trained  in  habits  of  self-reliance.  They  go  to  school 
not  to  hear  teachers  tell  things,  but  to  tell  things 
themselves;  not  to  be  filled,  but  to  be  unfolded.  Schools 
are  supported  not  that  teachers  may  recite  to  pupils, 
but  that  pupils  may  recite  to  teachers.  Telling  a  pupil 
is  not  training  him;  mind  is  developed  only  by  its  own 
activity.  Mere  filling  is  not  culture;  culture  is  the 
ability  to  reason.  Think  of  this  fact,  talking  teachers. 
Divide  your  talking  by  two  and  thus  multiply  the  value 
of  your  services  by  four.  A  pupil's  greatest  need  is 
training,  not  cramming.  Text-book  recitations  are  only 
means  to  an  end;  habit  is  the  end. 


11  The  soul  rejoices  only  in  self-won  victories.  It  feels 
no  special  pleasure  in  results  obtained  through  the 
direction  of  others.  The  earlier  a  child  is  trained  to 
rely  upon  itself,  the  less  the  total  burden  of  teaching  it. 
The  pupil's  greatest  need  throughout  school  life  is 
inspiration,  not  direction.  Pupils  should  be  encouraged 
to  realize  their  aim  through  their  own  efforts.  Much 
help  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  weakens  the  will  of  the 
pupil  and  leads  him  to  look  for  help  when  he  should 
not  receive  it.  In  many  schools  the  pupils  are  not 
required  to  think  for  themselves.  The  teachers  tell 
and  the  pupils  believe.  Traditional  routine  is  master. 
Real  teachers  train  pupils  to  rely  upon  themselves; 
school-keepers  train  them  for  beggars.  Teachers  stim- 
ulate activity;  school-keepers  stupify  it. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  n 

12  Pupils  do  only  what  they  are  permitted,  or  rather 
encouraged,  to  do.  If  they  are  noisy,  it  is  the  teacher's 
fault;  if  they  do  not  sit  and  stand  erect,  it  is  the 
teacher's  fault;  if  they  look  down  upon  the  floor  or  out 
of  the  window  while  reciting,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault; 
if  they  fall  into  their  seats  while  uttering  the  last  words 
of  a  sentence,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault;  if  they  use  both 
hands  in  holding  their  books,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault; 
if  they  lean  against  the  wall  or  hold  fast  to  a  desk  while 
reciting,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault;  if  they  fill  the  air  with 
wriggling  hands,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault;  if  non-reciting 
pupils  disturb  a  reciting  pupil,  it  is  the  teacher's  fault; 
if  pupils  are  not  respectful  to  the  teacher,  it  is  the 
teacher's  fault.  The  teacher  is  responsible  for  the 
school  habits  of  his  pupils.  A  teacher  may  have  both 
head  and  heart  culture  and  be  a  school  room  failure. 
She  may  be  faithful,  but  still  unsuccessful.  The  be- 
ginning of  success  is  a  gift. 


13  It  is  strange,  passing  strange,  how  little  of  improper 
bodily  habits  some  teachers  see.  They  have  eyes  but 
see  not.  It  is  stranger  still  how  few  ungrammatical 
expressions  some  teachers  hear.  They  have  ears  but 
they  hear  not.  Every  ungrammatical  expression  should 
be  heard  and  corrected  at  the  time.  Every  such  cor- 
rection is  more  valuable  than  a  regular  lesson  in  formal 
grammar.  

14  Restlessness  on  the  part  of  pupils  can  be  cured  only 
in  one  way — that  is  by  getting  them  to  work.  Give 
them  all  they  can  do.  Make  the  recitations  so  exact- 
ing (not  so  long)  that  they  must  study.  Do  not  use  the 
recitation  time  in  talking,  but  use  it  in  hearing. 


12  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

15  Telling  pupils  to  "go  to  work"  or  to  "get  their 
lessons,"  never  yet  caused  one  pupil  to  go  to  work  or 
to  get  his  lesson.  Make  the  recitations  so  personal,  so 
exacting,  that  the  average  pupil  will  go  to  work.  Self 
respect  will  compel  him  to  work.  In  your  method, 
appeal  to  the  man  that  is  in  the  boy.  There  is  an 
undeveloped  man  in  every  average  boy.  The  average 
boy  has  brains  and  honor.  Reach  his  honor  through 
his  brains.  You  cannot  reach  either  through  cheap 
devices  or  through  his  skin. 


ie  «  picking>>  at  pupils — telling  them  to  "sit  up,n 
"to  keep  quiet,"  "to  study" — does  little  or  no  good. 
In  a  short  time  the  disregard  for  the  oft  repeated  in- 
junction is  seen  in  increased  restlessness  and  disorder. 
When  pupils  learn  that  the  injunction  is  only  formal — 
a  sort  of  habit — they  do  not  even  hear  it,  for  pupils 
hear  only  what  has  meaning.  The  remedy  is  in  the 
teacher — in  the  recitation.  Get  the  pupils  to  work, 
and  there  will  be  little  use  for  phrases  which  only 
irritate.  Or,  stop  the  recitation,  say  nothing,  and 
stand  still  until  the  room  is  quiet.  Stop  the  work  of 
the  school  whenever  necessary  to  give  meaning  to  your 
general  regulations.  A  teacher  who  cannot  command 
and  maintain  order  is  a  failure. 


17  Teacher,  seldom  or  never  repeat  a  question  or  the 
assignment  of  a  lesson.  Once  is  enough.  By  repeti- 
tion you  encourage  the  habit  of  inattention,  increase 
your  own  work,  and  consume  time.  Give  your  pupils 
to  understand  that  you  must  have  their  attention.  Do 
not  permit  them  to  trifle  with  you  nor  with  themselves. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  13 

18  Pupils  should  not  be  permitted  to  leave  their  seats 
during  school  hours  for  imaginary  wants  or  for  trifling 
needs.  Their  wants  will  usually  keep  until  recess  or 
noon.  Only  for  a  real  want  or  urgent  necessity  should 
a  pupil  be  permitted  to  leave  his  seat  while  the  school 
is  in  session.  Every  time  a  pupil  leaves  his  seat  or 
crosses  the  room  he  disturbs  the  entire  school. 


19  If  a  teacher  cannot  govern  a  school  without  daily 
recourse  to  some  form  of  physical  force,  he  is  a  fail- 
ure. The  fear  of  punishment  cannot  long  control 
children.  Brute  force  is  a  questionable  agency  in  the 
government  of  humanity.  The  frequent  use  of  the  rod  is 
a  frequent  acknowledgement  of  natural  unfitness.  With- 
out discipline,  firm  but  kind,  a  school  is  but  a  school 
in  name.  Without  the  discipline  which  inclines  an  at- 
tentive ear  to  the  voice  of  the  teacher,  instruction  is 
fruitless.  Without  the  quiet  which  invites  thought, 
the  school  is  but  a  farce.  The  price  of  proper  school 
discipline  is  constant  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher.  Purpose,  energy,  and  tact  are  always  com- 
bined in  successful  teachers. 


20  Spasmodic  teachers  cannot  govern  children.  Ener- 
getic, methodical  persistence  is  the  key  to  success  in  the 
school  room.  Pupils  readily  recognize  just  what  a 
teacher  is  and  govern  themselves  accordingly.  Cor- 
recting a  pupil  occasionally  will  not  dislodge  his  bad 
habits.  Pupils  do  not  respect  spasmodic  efforts  to 
govern  them.  Persistency  of  purpose  distinguishes  the 
successful  teacher  from  the  failure.  If  you  would  dis- 
lodge a  bad  habit,  you  should  always  oppose  it. 


14  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

21  It  is  a  sad  sight  to  see  an  untrained  boy  or  girl,  fresh 
from  some  traditional  high  school  or  quack  normal 
school,  trying  to  instruct  children.  Without  the  slight- 
est idea  of  how  children  are  governed,  they  resort  to 
force  to  cover  their  unfitness.  With  but  a  scanty 
knowledge  of  the  subjects  they  are  called  upon  to  teach, 
their  instruction  is  timid  and  soulless.  But  human 
nature  is  so  self-helpful,  so  assertive,  so  divine,  that  it 
will  unfold  and  develop  notwithstanding  the  obstacles 
frequently  put  in  its  path.  Teaching  school  requires 
the  whole  of  a  man  or  a  woman:  boys  and  girls  are  not 
large  enough  to  teach  others.  The  teacher  needs  the 
enthusiasm  born  of  purpose.  He  needs  the  zeal  of  a 
lover.  He  should  feel  that  his  work  is  a  necessity  and 
that  he  is  indispensible.  The  man  who  succeeds,  feels 
that  he  has  a  mission  to  fill. 


22 


If  inexperienced  children  are  to  have  places  in  our 
schools  as  teachers,  they  should  be  assigned  to  the  upper 
grades.  Many  can  teach  pupils  who  are  old  enough  to 
help  themselves,  but  few  can  teach  children  in  the 
primary  grades.  The  more  a  pupil  can  help  himself 
the  less  he  needs  a  skillful  teacher. 


23  A  real  teacher  never  fails  to  leave  an  indelible 
impression  upon  every  pupil  he  instructs.  Pupils  grow  to 
believe  and  to  act  like  their  teachers.  It  is  a  real  thing 
to  teach  school.  No  other  work  is  so  important  or  so 
complex  as  the  work  of  the  teacher;  no  other  work 
requires  a  maturer  mind,  a  clearer  judgment,  a  more 
perfect  self-control,  or  a  larger  knowledge  of  human 
nature.  No  other  profession  demands  so  much  of  its 
devotees.     No  other  calling  requires  so  many  eyes,  so 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  15 

much  patience,  so  much  perseverance,  so  much  faith, 
so  much  love.  The  mother  and  the  teacher  are  respon- 
sible for  the  man.  Teacher,  do  you  feel  that  you  are 
building  for  the  future?  Do  you  know  that  the  habits 
which  children  acquire  under  your  direction,  or  by 
your  permission,  usually  accompany  them  throughout 
life?  Do  you  know  that  the  ideals  formed  in  early  life 
lead  to  success  or  failure  in  later  life? 


24  Teachers  should  ever  be  students.  No  teacher  can 
succeed  who  is  content  to  remain  in  a  state  of  rest,  or 
who  stops  to  ask  the  cost  of  his  labor  or  what  will  be 
his  reward.  The  world  owes  nothing  to  its  contented 
men  and  women.  Contentment  means  decline.  The 
only  way  to  do  well  is  to  strive  to  do  better.  This  law 
of  growth  through  striving  is  as  universal  in  its  appli- 
cation as  the  law  of  gravitation.  A  teacher  without  an 
ideal — an  ever  movable  ideal — is  intellectually,  if  not 
morally,  dead.  

25  Attention,  attention,  attention.  Teacher,  if  you  can- 
not get  the  attention  of  your  pupils,  you  cannot  teach 
them.  Without  the  ability  to  secure  and  retain  the 
attention  of  your  pupils  your  work  is  worthless.  The 
pupils'  attention  you  must  have.  Get  it.  Get  it  in 
some  way.  No  one  can  tell  you  just  how  you  can  get 
it.  Personality  is  greater  than  method.  If  all  of  a 
class  attend,  each  pupil  recites  the  entire  lesson.  Only 
those  pupils  who  attend  are  really  present;  the  inatten- 
tive are  practically  absent,  present  yet  absent.  With- 
out attention,  there  can  be  no  perception;  without 
perception,  there  is  nothing  to  remember;  hence  there 
is  no  advancement  without  attention.     The  art  of  teach- 


16  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

ing  is  the  art  of  getting  attention.  Giving  attention  is 
acquiring  knowledge.  Though  a  teacher  possess  all 
knowledge  and  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,  if  he  has  not  the  tact  which  secures  and  retains 
the  attention  of  his  pupils,  he  is  a  school  room  failure. 
Without  the  indescribable  art  which  holds  the  attention 
of  pupils,  instruction  is  in  vain;  the  work  and  the 
prayers  of  the  teacher  avail  nothing.  Without  the 
tact,  the  earnestness,  the  enthusiasm,  born  of  developed 
purpose,  a  teacher  cannot  reach  the  heads  and  the 
hearts  of  children.     

26  Teacher,  you  can  by  tact,  patience,  and  methodical 
perseverance  get  most  of  your  indolent  pupils  to  study- 
ing by  requiring  them  to  revise  every  careless,  inac- 
curate, or  wordy  statement  or  explanation.  You  can 
generally  compel  an  inattentive  pupil  to  become  atten- 
tive by  requiring  him  to  exhibit  himself  at  every  recita- 
tion— by  leading  him  to  see  himself  as  the  studious 
pupils  of  the  class  see  him — by  being  firmly  and  uni- 
formly exacting  with  him  in  all  he  is  called  upon  to  do. 
Train  yourself  to  see  your  pupils.  A  glance  of  the  eye 
should  cause  every  wandering  pupil  in  the  room  to 
return  to  his  work.  Teach  pupils  that  you  are  ever  on 
the  alert.  

27  The  pupil  must  give  attention  to  one  thing  at  a  time, 
if  he  would  acquire  lasting  impressions.  The  clearest 
images  and  the  deepest  impressions  are  made  when  the 
mind  is  concentrated  upon  a  single  object  or  thought. 
The  greater  the  number  of  objects  simultaneously  in 
consciousness,  the  less  distinct  the  impression  of  each. 
The  clearness  of  an  impression  depends  upon  concen- 
tration of  attention  upon  a  single  thing.     The  strength 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  17 

and  durability  of  a  perception  depends  upon  the  quality 
of  the  attention  which  occasioned  it.  We  may  perceive 
so  feebly  that  the  impressions  will  become  confused 
with  other  feeble  impressions  and  soon  pass  out  of  con- 
sciousness. It  is  thus  clear  that  dissipation  in  teaching 
means  a  confusion  of  impressions  and  little  advance  in 
mental  power  or  knowledge.  Pupils  may  recite  the 
same  lesson  several  times  and  not  intellectually  perceive 
a  single  principle  in  it. 

28  Clearness  of  statement  is  evidence  of  culture.  The 
mere  ability  to  state  a  fact  in  careless  or  slovenly 
English  does  not  suggest  culture  nor  learning.  A  large 
majority  of  text-book  facts  are  valueless  in  themselves; 
they  are  means  to  an  end.  That  end  is  training  in 
habits.  Clearness  of  expression  in  the  statement  of  a 
fact  or  in  the  analysis  of  a  sentence  or  a  problem,  has  a 
greater  intellectual  and  moral  value  than  the  mere 
acquisition  of  the  text-book  fact.  The  parrot-like 
recitation  of  facts  in  the  language  of  others  is  not 
significant.  

29  A  feeling  recognition  by  the  teacher  that  his  methods 
are  founded  upon  correct  principles  does  much  to 
sweeten  his  labor  and  to  strengthen  his  faith  in  him- 
self. The  inspiration  which  yields  success  in  the 
school  room  is  born  of  intelligent  aims. 


30  Attention  to  little  things  often  distinguishes  the  suc- 
cessful from  the  unsuccessful  teacher.  The  former  sees, 
the  latter  does  not;  the  former  hears,  the  latter  does 
not.  The  former  is  sympathetically  exacting,  the  latter 
is  indifferently  exacting.  One  is  positive  and  uniform; 
the   other   passive   and   spasmodic.     Teachers  should 


18  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

train  themselves  to  see  and  to  hear  because 
only  what  we  have  been  trained  to  see"  and  "we  hear 
only  what  we  know."  A  teacher  should  be  all  eyes, 
all  ears,  all  earnestness,  all  purpose.  The  sum  of  many 
little  things  in  school  work  is  success  or  failure. 


31  In  a  school  of  thirty  or  more  pupils,  but  little  time 
should  be  given  to  individual  instruction.  With  the 
exception  of  an  occasional  hint,  the  instruction  should 
be  class  instruction.  In  classes,  pupils  teach  each  other. 
If  several  pupils  are  required  to  illustrate  a  principle  or 
to  state  a  text-book  fact  in  their  own  language,  each 
one  will  get  a  wider  view  of  the  matter  than  when 
taught  alone.  Class  recitation  gives  each  pupil  in  the 
class  an  opportunity  to  measure  himself  with  every 
other  pupil  in  the  class.  It  gives  the  teacher  an  oppor- 
tunity to  grade  his  pupils  and  to  draw  upon  each  for  all. 
In  class  instruction,  the  teacher  is  less  apt  to  tell  than 
in  individual  instruction.  A  class  does  not  so  directly 
ask  for  help  as  an  individual.  Individual  instruction 
tends  to  destroy  the  pupil's  self-reliance.  If  help  can 
be  had  for  the  asking,  the  pupil  will  often  get  it  when 
he  should  not  receive  it. 


32  Never  have  pupils  recite  consecutively;  that  is,  in  the 
order  in  which  they  sit  or  stand  during  the  recitation. 
Never  do  anything  in  a  routine  way.  Keep  each  pupil 
in  the  class  constantly  on  the  alert  by  tact  in  your 
method.     Be  always  new,  yet  always  the  same. 


33  "Roy,  you  may  read  that  again.  Now  be  carefnl 
about  calling  the  words."  Thirteen  words — quite  a 
lecture.     Only  two  were  necessary.     uRoy,"  to    call 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  19 

his  attention,  and  u again,"  to  call  upon  him  to  correct 
his  mistakes.  Fully  one-half  of  the  teacher's  talk  is 
a  trespass  upon  the  pupil's  time. 


34  The  little  word  again  may  be  made  a  very  helpful 
word  in  the  school  room.  If  properly  used,  it  will  save 
much  unnecessary  talk  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and 
much  time  for  the  pupil.  When  a  pupil  blunders  in 
reading,  mispronounces  a  word,  makes  a  statement  in 
slovenly  English,  or  uses  twice  as  many  words  as  he 
should  use  in  making  an  explanation,  the  teacher 
should  say  "again,"  just  one  word,  and  the  pupil 
should  try  again.  Why  should  the  teacher  say  "  John 
you  may  recite  again,"  or  "  Mary  you  know  better  than 
that."  The  persistent  use  of  "again"  will  do  more 
for  a  pupil  than  a  scolding  or  a  lecture.  In  this  way 
every  recitation  may  be  made  a  valuable  language  les- 
son— a  training  in  the  use  of  language.  The  liberal 
use  of  this  little  word  will  do  more  toward  teaching 
the  use  of  good  English  than  high-school  rhetoric  in 
later  years.  

35  A  pupil  should  not  be  permitted  to  begin  his  recita- 
tion until  he  is  in  proper  position.  "  Position  " — just 
one  word — should  adjust  a  pupil.  "  Position"  is  more 
concise  and  personal  than  "stand  away  from  the  desk," 
' '  stand  in  the  middle  of  the  aisle, ' '  ( ( hands  out  of  your 
pockets,"  "look  at  me,"  and  many  other  traditional 
school  room  phrases.  One  word,  "position,"  should 
correct  all  improper  attitudes.  Insist  upon  position 
until  it  becomes  a  habit.  An  occasional  position  will 
not  establish  a  habit.  The  persistent  use  of  the  two 
little   words    "again"    and     "position"     would    save 


20  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

teachers  three-fourths  of  their  unnecessary  talk,  save 
time,  and  encourage  quiet  and  industry  on  the  part  of 
pupils.  Teachers  should  teach  brevity  and  quietness 
by  being  brief  in  statement  and  quiet  in  movements. 


36  Such  stereotyped  commands  as  ' '  Take  your  places 
quietly"  and. "  See  how  quiet  you  can  be  to-day," 
make  little  or  no  impression  upon  pupils.  Without 
vigilance, teachers  will, unconsciously,  grow  into  routine 
habits  of  speech  and  action.  Without  an  ever-present 
high  ideal,  human  nature  tends  to  automatic  conditions. 
It  requires  inspiration  and  purpose  to  keep  awake. 


37  uBe  careful  of  your  commas  to-day  "  was  the  warn- 
ing given  a  second  reader  class  before  the  recitation  was 
commenced.  The  pupils  did  not  even  hear  the  warn- 
ing. If  it  reached  one  ear,  it  passed  right  out  of  the 
other.  It  took  time  to  utter  it,  and  the  utterance  dis- 
turbed the  whole  school.     It  was  silly. 

38  Fully  one-half  of  the  movements  of  pupils  and  classes 
should  be  indicated  by  a  motion  of  the  head  or  the 
hand.  Every  movement  that  can  be  indicated  by  a 
sign  or  a  gesture  should  be  so  directed.  Fully  one-half 
of  the  oral  commands  should  be  avoided.  Quiet  not 
only  saves  time,  but  it  induces  thought. 

39  One  tap  of  the  bell  or  a  motion  of  the  hand  or  the 
head  should  call  a  class  or  dismiss  a  room.  A  pupil 
should  take  his  seat  as  soon  as  he  reaches  it.  He 
should  not  be  required  to  stand  until  all  the  class  are 
ready  to  sit  down  or  for  a  signal  from  the  teacher. 
A  movement  once  indicated  by  the  teacher  should  be 
completed  by  the  pupils  without  further  notice. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  21 

40  While  hearing  a  recitation,  the  teacher  should  remain 
in  about  the  same  position,  that  he  may  give  undivided 
attention  to  the  work  of  the  class.  Moving  from  place 
to  place  not  only  disturbs  the  pupils,  but  prevents  the 
teacher  from  concentrating  his  attention  upon  the  class. 
Restlessness  of  body  disturbs  the  mind. 


41  A  teacher  should  never  permit  a  pupil  to  annoy  him 
with  questions  while  he  is  hearing  other  pupils  recite, 
or  is  otherwise  engaged.  Pupils  should  ask  all  ques- 
tions during  recitations.  Teachers  should  not  encour- 
age pupils  to  seek  individual  instruction;  it  lessens  the 
value  of  the  recitation.  Pupils  should  be  trained  to 
look  to  the  recitation  for  answers  to  questions  and  for 
explanations  of  difficulties. 

42  Teacher,  train  yourself  to  see  and  to  hear  more,  that 
you  may  see  and  hear  less.  Teachers  who  can  see  only 
one  pupil  at  a  time  and  only  part  of  him  should  not 
hope  to  govern  a  school  properly,  or  to  hold  the  atten- 
tion of  a  class.  Seeing  pupils  is  an  art.  They  should 
be  seen  all  the  time,  yet  not  watched.  As  you  learn  to 
see  and  to  hear,  your  pupils  will  learn  to  do.  Thus  by 
training  yourself,  you  train  others.  The  inability  of 
teachers  to  see  and  to  hear  things  is  the  cause  of  many 
failures.  

43  Pedagogically  wise  is  the  teacher  who  sees  even  .a 
glimpse  of  the  great  truth  that  telling  is  not  teaching. 
Telling  implies  mental  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher  only.  The  pupil  may  be  merely  a  passive 
listener;  he  may  not  even  hear  the  teacher.  Teaching 
implies  mental  activity  on  the  part  of  tne  pupil  as  well 
as  the  teacher.     To  teach  is  to  develop,  to  awaken,  to 


22  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

cause  a  pupil  to  think,  to  help  him  to  help  himself. 
Telling  merely  fills  a  pupil  with  facts;  teaching  leads 
him  to  discover  his  own  facts.  u  Gifts  do  not  enrich.' ' 
Real  wealth  is  an  acquisition. 

44  The  child  begins  to  acquire  his  school  habits  the  first 
day  he  goes  to  school.  From  the  hour  he  enters  the 
school  room  he  is  trained  by  teacher  and  pupils.  In  a 
very  large  measure  their  habits  become  his  habits.  At 
any  age  we  are  influenced  by  our  associates,  but  the 
child  of  six  years  is  so  impressible,  so  imitative,  so 
unsuspecting,  so  believing,  that  he  is  little  more  than 
putty  in  the  hands  of  others. 

45  The  cost  of  undoing  the  bad  habits  which  pupils 
acquire  while  in  charge  of  incompetent  or  indifferent 
teachers  is  known  only  to  those  who  know  something  of 
the  tenacity  of  habit.  Some  teachers  permit  pupils  to 
become  so  listless  and  inattentive  that  when  they  are 
promoted  to  a  higher  grade,  they  cannot  do  the  work 
of  the  grade.  If  the  work  of  each  grade  is  not  correctly 
and  thoroughly  done,  there  is  great  injustice  done  the 
teacher  in  the  next  higher  grade.  Teachers  who  can- 
not or  who  will  not  do  the  work  of  their  respective 
grades  should  be  dropped  from  the  pay-roll.  The 
superintendent  who  is  too  timid  to  superintend  should 
seek  a  place  where  compromises  do  not  ruin  children 
and  rob  parents. 

46  Teachers  should  ever  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the 
primary  function  of  the  school  is  the  training  of  pupils 
in  correct  methods  of  study — that  but  few  of  the  text- 
book facts  learned  in  schools  are  remembered  one  year, 
and   that    fewer   still    have  any  value    as  knowledge. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  23 

Until  a  pupil  acquires  the  study  habit,  he  can  make 
but  little  progress  in  his  studies.  Teacher,  you  can 
help  him  to  acquire  the  study  habit  only  in  one  way — 
by  interesting  him  in  the  work  of  the  school. 


47  Many  teachers  try  to  make  everything  easy  for  their 
pupils.  Teachers  may  make  their  schools  pleasant, 
but  they  should  never  try  to  make  them  easy  places. 
There  are  no  easy  places  in  this  world.  Breathing 
teachers  do  not  seek  easy  places  for  themselves  or  their 
pupils.  Only  the  "  living  dead"  seek  ease.  Young 
man,  if  you  want  an  easy  place,  do  not  try  to  find  it  in 
the  school  room.  Leaders  are  workers.  If  you  want  to 
sit  in  a  chair  and  dream,  children  should  not  be  made 
the  victims  of  your  indifference  and  unworthiness.  If 
you  do  not  feel  the  responsibilities  of  a  teacher's  work, 
enter  some  profession  where  less  of  purpose,  energy, 
and  honesty  is  required.  If  you  do  not  really  love 
children,  enter  some  work  where  less  of  sincerity  and 
genuine  humanity  is  needed.  If  you  are  teaching  for 
"  pin-money, n  find  some  place  where  your  services  will 
prove  less  disastrous. 

48  Formal  routine  is  not  experience;  it  is  too  mechanical. 
The  work  of  a  teacher  is  real  work.  It  demands  the 
earnestness  and  enthusiasm  of  an  idealist.  Wakeful- 
ness on  the  part  of  a  teacher  is  necessary  to  success. 
No  one  succeeds  in  any  work  by  simply  hoping,  pray- 
ing, and  weeping.  Physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
growth  is  the  result  of  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
activity.  Mere  belief  in  dogma,  sound  or  unsound, 
never  awakened  a  sleeping  soul  or  aroused  a  dull  boy. 
Purpose  and  enthusiasm  are  the  conditions  of  progress. 


24  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

49  The  tact,  the  patience,  and  the  persistence  required 
to  govern  and  instruct  forty  or  fifty  children  six  years 
old  are  found  in  but  few  families.  The  successful 
primary  teacher  is  a  special  creation.  She  cannot  be 
made  to  order  in  Normal  schools  nor  anywhere  else. 
No  amount  of  pedagogical  patience  and  skill  can  turn 
nature  out  of  its  own  direction.  We  can  cultivate  only 
what  we  have;  we  cannot  create.  Training  cannot 
complete  what  God  did  not  begin.  Success  in  any 
department  of  life  depends  upon  natural  fitness.  It  is 
the  result  of  normal  conditions.  Tact,  energy,  and 
enthusiasm  are  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
the  successful  primary  teacher.  More  is  required  of 
teachers  in  the  primary  than  in  the  grammar  grades. 
As  pupils  become  self-helpful,  tactful  teachers  become 
less  necessary. 

50  The  weaker  the  teacher,  the  less  he  feels  the  respon- 
sibility of  his  work,  hence  the  more  he  sits  and  dreams. 
During  recitations,  teachers  of  all  grades  should  make 
sitting  the  exception  and  standing  the  rule.  Training 
pupils  to  think  requires  breathing  teachers.  To  teach 
a  pupil  is  to  lead  him  to  think,  to  feel,  to  do. 

51  The  mind  is  not  satisfied  with  the  recitation  of  the 
words  of  others.  Learning  alone  does  not  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  the  soul.  Only  that  which  is  acquired  by 
the  mind's  own  activity  improves  and  strengthens  it. 
Teacher,  if  you  are  a  routine  recitation  hearer,  get  rid 
of  the  habit  at  once.  A  lifeless  recitation  of  dead  text- 
book facts  carries  with  it  a  deadly  poison.  Independ- 
ent thinking  on  your  part  will  lead  to  independent 
thinking  on  the  part  of  your  pupils.     My  young  friend, 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  25 

think  these  thoughts  until  they  become  your  thoughts. 
They  will  inspire  you,  lighten  your  labor,  and  bless 
your  pupils. 

52  Many  teachers  attempt  to  teach  so  many  facts  in  a 
single  lesson  that  there  is  little  or  no  concentration  of 
mind  on  the  part  of  the  pupil,  hence  the  impressions 
are  indistinct  and  transient.  Teacher,  be  definite  in 
your  aims;  select  the  important  fact  or  principle  and 
emphasize  it;  see  that  the  class  follows  you  and  under- 
stands you.  It  is  clear  seeing  and  deep  conviction  that 
give  life  meaning. 

53  Many  teachers  are  ever  too  ready  to  help  their  pupils 
over  every  difficulty — over  the  very  obstacles  which 
they  should  master  unaided  that  they  may  learn  to  rely 
upon  themselves.  Many  teachers  give  too  many  help- 
ful suggestions — suggestions  which  almost  tell  just 
what  the  pupil  should  find  out  for  himself.  Teaching 
which  makes  school  life  easy  for  the  pupil  is  destructive 
teaching.  It  robs  him  of  his  opportunity  and  gives 
him  a  wrong  impression,  not  only  of  school  life,  but  of 
life  in  general.  When  a  teacher  feels  that  he  should 
help  a  pupil,  he  should  not  do  so  directly.  He  should 
lead  the  pupil  slowly  and  cautiously  by  means  of  sug- 
gestive questions  to  help  himself  out  of  his  difficulty. 
The  tactful  teacher — the  real  teacher — seldom  finds  it 
necessary  to  do  anything  for  a  thinking  pupil. 


54  Pupils  should  not  be  expected  to  master  school  text- 
books. They  should  not  be  required  to  work  all  the 
problems  in  the  traditional  arithmetic,  to  recite  all 
the  facts    and    dates  in  the    histories,    nor   to    answer 


26  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

all  the  questions  in  the  catechism  geographies.  At 
least  half  of  the  time  in  many  schools  is  spent  upon 
detail  which  has  no  value  as  a  means  of  training  or  as 
knowledge.  It  cannot  be  remembered  and  would  be 
valueless  if  it  could  be.  Why  then  teach  it?  Habit, 
is  the  only  answer. 


55  The  teacher  who  has  not  thoroughly  prepared  the 
lessons  for  the  day  cannot  be  a  leader  in  any  proper 
sense.  What  a  teacher  knows  superficially,  he  teaches 
superficially.  Scanty  information  upon  a  subject  makes 
a  teacher  timid.  Timid  teachers  make  uncertain  pupils. 
Vague,  indefinite  instruction  leaves  vague  and  indefinite 
impressions. 

56  Interest  in  school  work  cannot  be  developed  by  the 
pouring-in-method  of  teaching  nor  by  sleeping  teachers. 
Teachers  are  helpful  only  to  the  extent  that  they  lead 
pupils  to  help  themselves.  The  teacher  who  tells  a 
pupil  anything  that  he  should  draw  out  of  the  pupil,  is 
a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help.  Interest  in  school 
studies  is  a  mental  state  due  to  habits  of  voluntary 
attention;  it  cannot  be  developed  by  routine  recitations 
nor  by  telling  teachers.  Surface  exhibitions  cannot 
long  interest  pupils.  Mere  formality  does  not  arouse 
the  soul. 

57  Knowledge  cannot  be  poured  into  a  pupil's  head  as 
peas  are  poured  into  a  pot,  hence  telling  is  not  teach- 
ing. To  educate  a  child  is  to  do  more  for  him  than 
merely  to  cram  him  with  text-book  facts;  it  is  to  train 
him  incorrect  habits,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical. 
Knowledge  is  not  a  gift,  but  an  acquisition.     All  that 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  27 

a  teacher  can  do  is  to  arouse  mental  activity  and  lead 
the  pupil  to  desire  knowledge.  The  pupil  must  supply 
the  desire.  

58  Teacher,  distinguish  between  the  useful  and  the  use- 
less in  teaching  arithmetic,  geography,  history,  and 
grammar.  A  knowledge  of  the  useful  is  the  need  of 
nine-tenths  of  our  pupils.  Pupils  should  feel  that  they 
know  the  essential  facts,  the  useful  facts,  of  the  com- 
mon branches.  

59  Teachers  must  govern  as  well  as  teach.  A  school 
without  order  is  a  school  without  purpose.  Order 
invites  the  mind  to  work;  disorder  prevents  it  from 
working.  Quiet  induces  study;  noise  prevents  study. 
The  tact  which  governs  is  as  essential  as  the  ability 
which  instructs.  In  many  schools  the  discipline  is  so 
spasmodic,  the  instruction  so  indefinite,  the  attention 
of  the  pupils  so  irregular  that  but  little  progress  is 
possible.  That  the  pupils  make  any  advance  is  a  com- 
pliment to  human  nature. 


60  Put  your  indolent,  restless  pupils  to  copying  selec- 
tions from  their  readers  or  histories.  Require  them  to 
copy  the  same  selection  until  it  has  been  neatly  and 
correctly  done.  Do  not  worry  about  the  amount  of 
work  the  copying  requires  of  them,  nor  the  long  quiet 
which  accompanies  the  exercise.  Few  other  school 
exercises  will  do  as  much  for  pupils  in  the  acquisition 
of  good  English  and  the  study  habit. 


61  Where  corporal  punishment  is  still  the  last  resort, 
its  administration  should  be  carefully  considered.  It 
should  never  be  inflicted  immediately  after  the  offense. 


28  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

Punishment  must  be  judiciously  and  deliberately  ad- 
ministered to  be  effective.  I  suggest  that  the  inflic- 
tion of  all  forms  of  corporal  punishment  be  deferred 
until  the  day  after  the  offense.  All  kinds  of  school 
offenses  should  be  met  by  the  teacher  in  a  firm  and 
kindly    spirit  —  never    harshly.        "The    mild    power 


62  Pupils  should  not  be  detained  after  the  regular  school 
hours  for  any  cause  whatsoever.  Detention  only  irri- 
tates them.  Idleness  cannot  be  cured  by  any  such 
cheap  device.  The  only  real  cure  for  poor  lessons  is 
industry,  and  the  only  way  to  get  an  idle  pupil  to  study 
is  to  interest  him.  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  remedy  for 
idleness  and  the  consequent  poor  lessons  must  be  found 
in  the  teacher.  If  the  cheap  devices  of  untrained  and 
incompetent  boys  and  girls  could  change  idle  and  inat- 
tentive pupils  into  studious  and  attentive  ones,  the 
science  of  education  and  the  art  of  instruction  would  be 
easily  mastered. 

63  Recess  should  be  short  and  quiet.  In  graded  schools, 
one  or  more  teachers  should  accompany  the  pupils  to 
the  play  ground  and  remain  with  them  during  recess. 
Large  numbers  of  pupils  should  never  be  left  without  a 
teacher  or  a  monitor  in  sight.  One  child  alone  is 
usually  pure  in  thought  and  action,  but  large  num- 
bers of  children — children  from  many  kinds  of  homes — 
need  the  constant  surveillance  of  parents  and  teachers. 
Thousands  of  innocent  children  have  been  poisoned, 
if  not  ruined,  by  association  at  school  with  children 
from  low  and  vicious  homes.  One  boy  or  girl  habitu- 
ated to  low  practices  could  easily  contaminate  scores  of 
unsuspicious  children. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  29 

64  Pupils  should  not  be  permitted  to  congregate  upon 
the  school  premises  for  play  morning  or  noon.  They 
should  pass  directly  to  their  rooms  upon  entering  the 
school  yard.  The  school  is  in  110  way  connected  with 
the  plays  of  children.  It  is  an  intellectual  work-shop 
— a  business  institution. 


65  While  hearing  a  recitation  the  teacher  should  stand 
where  each  member  of  the  class  can  see  him.  He 
should  stand  still.  A  walking,  restless  teacher  dis- 
tracts the  attention  of  the  class,  also  of  the  other  pupils. 
Moving  about  divides  the  presence  and  the  power  of 
the  teacher. 

66  Concert  recitation  counts  for  little  or  nothing.  It 
divides  the  class  into  leaders  and  followers.  It  masses 
them.  Method  should  individualize.  It  denies  the 
teacher  an  opportunity  to  know  the  shirkers  and  the 
inattentive.  If  used  at  all  it  should  be  only  on  very 
sleepy  occasions. 

67  A  graded  school  is  a  series  of  related  steps  in  which 
the  character  of  the  work  done  in  any  grade  is  seen  in 
the  next  higher  grade.  The  habits  of  the  pupils  in  the 
second  grade  describe  the  methods  of  the  teacher  in  the 
first  grade;  the  habits  of  the  pupils  in  the  third  grade, 
the  methods  of  the  teacher  in  the  second  grade,  and  so 
on  through  all  the  grades.  That  is,  the  habits  of  the 
pupils  in  any  grade  reveal  the  methods  of  their  last 
teacher.  There  is  no  place  in  a  graded  school  in  which 
a  teacher  can  hide. 

68  The  length  of  time  required  to  dislodge  a  bad  habit 
depends  upon  the  age  of  the  habit  and  the  persistency 


3o  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

of  the  effort  to  dislodge  it.  The  strength  of  an  old 
habit  is  astonishingly  great,  hence  children  should  not 
be  permitted  to  acquire  bad  school  habits  in  the  pri- 
mary grades. 

69  The  memorizing  of  thoughts  and  principles  is  more 
valuable  than  the  memorizing  of  words  and  sentences. 
Teachers  should  seek  to  associate  thoughts  and  princi- 
ples according  to  the  laws  of  association  that  the  pupil 
may  recall  them  when  needed. 


70  A  teacher  who  speaks  in  a  tone  lower  than  the  aver- 
age will  soon  have  followers  among  his  pupils.  Teach- 
ers should  speak  distinctly  and  with  sufficient  energy 
and  volume  of  voice  to  be  heard  in  any  part  of  an  ordi- 
nary school  room.  Pupils  of  all  ages  imitate  their 
teachers.  Teachers  are  the  pupils'  ideals.  The  habits 
which  pupils  form  in  school  usually  accompany  them 
throughout  life.  One  correct  habit  firmly  fixed  in  early 
life  is  more  valuable  than  a  score  of  text-book  facts. 
Correct  habits  are  real  values.  The  aim  of  education 
is  rieht  conduct. 


71 


In  the  first  and  second  grades,  the  smaller  the  classes, 
and  the  greater  the  number  of  recitations  in  a  session, 
the  more  rapid  the  progress.  As  the  attention  of  young 
pupils  must  be  secured  and  retained  by  the  tact  of  the 
teacher,  it  is  self-evident  that  the  classes  should  be 
small.  No  teacher  can  hold  the  undivided  attention 
of  twenty-five  children.  Her  will  power  and  tact  will 
not  go  around.  In  the  first  and  second  grades,  increase 
the  number  of  classes.  It  is  better  to  shorten  the  time 
for  each  recitation  than  to  waste  all  of  it.     Few  teach- 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  31 

ers  can  hold  the  attention  of  first  and  second  grade 
pupils  longer  than  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  at  one 
time.  The  impressions  made  upon  the  child  depend 
upon  the  enthusiasm  and  the  tact  of  the  teacher  and 
the  attention  of  the  pupil. 


72  In  all  the  professions  except  teaching,  incompetency 
and  inexperience  are  held  to  be  risky  and  dear  without 
price.  Why  should  the  most  responsible,  the  most 
difficult,  the  most  complex  of  all  professions  be  made 
the  only  exception?  There  seems  but  one  reply  to  this 
question.  Obviously  it  is  because  the  evil  effects  of 
the  blunderers  are  not  seen  at  the  time  by  the  masses. 
The  pupil  does  not,  at  once,  show  the  evil  effects  of  the 
teacher's  improper  methods,  his  ignorance  of  the  laws 
of  mental  development  and  of  the  subjects  taught.  The 
child's  mental  condition  is  not  even  questioned.  It  is 
assumed  that  because  his  stomach  remains  fairly  healthy, 
his  mind  is  healthy  also.  The  assumption  is  usually 
unwarranted . 

73  The  cost  of  incompetent  or  indifferent  teaching  can 
never  be  definitely  known.  However,  it  is  known  that 
an  incompetent  or  indifferent  teacher  robs  the  pupil  of 
his  opportunity,  the  tax-payer  of  his  taxes,  and  jeopard- 
izes the  standing  of  the  teacher  in  the  next  higher 
grade.  What  the  best  teacher  can  do  with  pupils  de- 
pends upon  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  pupils  when 
he  gets  them.  The  difference  between  competency  and 
incompetency — between  good  methods  and  bad  methods 
— between  the  real  and  the  artificial  teacher — between 
the  teacher  who  loves  children  and  the  one  who  does 


32  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

not  love  them — between  the  working  teacher  and  the 
time-server  or  salary  grabber — can  never  be  fully  de- 
scribed.    It  is  too  great  for  description. 


74  The  greater  the  cripple,  the  greater  the  need  for 
crutches;  the  more  incompetent  the  teacher,  the  greater 
his  need  for  text-books^for  particular  text-books.  A 
teacher  should  know  the  subject  rather  than  what  a 
particular  author  has  said  about  it.  If  a  teacher  knows 
only  what  one  author  has  written  on  a  subject,  his 
knowledge  of  that  subject  is  scanty  indeed.  Inspiring 
and  courageous  teaching  comes  from  conscious  knowl- 
edge of  the  subject  taught.  Unconscious  incompetency 
is  the  mother  of  a  majority  of  the  school  room  failures. 


75  Require  pupils  to  correct  their  own  mistakes  in  the 
class.  Pupils  are  made  alert  by  knowing  that  they  will 
be  called  upon  to  correct  their  mistakes.  The  only 
safe  plan  is  to  call  on  the  blunderer  again  and  require 
him  to  correct  himself.  Make  the  recitation  of  each 
pupil  so  exhaustive  that  he  will  soon  see  himself.  Do 
not  feed  him  with*  questions,  but  draw  him  out.  The 
teacher  who  can  lead  an  indifferent  pupil  to  see  himself, 
understands  the  art  of  instruction.  No  pupil  was  ever 
awakened  from  a  school  house  slumber  by  a  telling  or 
talking  teacher. 

78  Experience  is  valuable  only  when  it  is  of  the  right 
kind.  Experience  of  any  kind  without  the  inspiration, 
suggestion,  and  guidance  of  high  ideals  is  always  de- 
structive. This  self-evident  fact  is  especially  applicable 
to  the  work  of  the  teacher.  Experience  is  often  the 
greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  teacher's  success.  Suc- 
cess depends  upon  ideals. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  33 

77  There  are  at  least  two  things  no  teacher  can  do.  No 
teacher  can  teach  an  inattentive  pupil;  no  teacher  can 
teach  what  he  does  not  know.  Getting  along  in  school 
work  requires  attention  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  and 
competency  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  If  either  is 
wanting  the  school  is  a  failure. 


78  Genuine  enthusiasm  is  born  of  well  developed  pur- 
pose. It  is  not  spasmodic,  nor  "puffed  up."  If  a 
teacher  really  loves  his  work,  if  he  really  loves  his 
pupils,  if  he  has  a  deep  conviction  of  the  value  of  edu- 
cation, his  enthusiasm  will  soon  bear  fruit  in  the  lives 
of  his  pupils. 

79  Success  in  the  school  room,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
depends  upon  purpose  and  ideals.  The  young  woman 
who  teaches  solely  for  the  pay,  who  prefers  society  to 
the  school  and  a  novel  to  a  text-book;  the  young  man 
who  teaches  while  he  studies  law  or  medicine;  these 
cannot,  in  any  true  sense,  be  called  school-teachers. 
Such  teachers  disgrace  the  noblest  of  all  callings. 
Are  children  but  bric-a-brac — souls  but  things — for  the 
use  of  insincere  young  women  and  selfish  and  ambitious 
young  men? 

80  The  end  sought  in  school  work  extends  throughout 
life.  The  school  is  only  a  means  to  an  end.  The  end 
sought  in  the  study  of  grammar  is  not  grammatical 
facts,  but  the  correct  and  ready  use  of  words.  All  need 
language;  few  need  grammar.  The  end  sought  in  the 
study  of  arithmetic  is  not  answers,  but  mental  disci- 
pline in  rigid  and  exact  reasoning.  Very  little  of  pure 
arithmetic  answers  all  the  needs  of  ninety-nine  in  one 


34        i  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

hundred.  The  end  sought  in  the  study  of  geography 
is  not  a  memory  crammed  with  dead  geographical  facts, 
but  an  imagination  rilled  with  living  pictures  of  the 
earth's  surface. 

81  Extended  discussions  of  topics  not  properly  related  to 
the  subject  of  the  lesson,  weaken  the  recitation. 
Teacher,  drill  on  one  thing  at  a  time.  If  you  must 
talk,  talk  about  the  essential  and  distinguishing  point 
in  the  lesson.     Make  it  clear. 


82  The  more  methodical,  persistent,  and  exacting  your 
instruction,  the  shorter  the  time  required  to  establish 
the  study  habit  in  your  pupils.  Pupils  must  be  induced 
to  study;  teachers  must  work.  The  average  pupil  can 
think  and  will  think,  if  approached  in  the  right  way. 
Lead  him,  but  do  not  do  for  him. 


83  Teach  the  concrete  before  the  abstract  in  language. 
Begin  with  the  sentence.  Whole  things  are  more  easily 
and  clearly  understood  by  children  than  parts  of  things. 
To  a  child  a  sentence  has  meaning;  a  part  of  speech  has 
not.  Begin  with  familiar  sentences  and  inductively 
find  the  parts  of  speech  and  their  definitions.  Let  the 
pupils  make  the  discoveries.  Put  little  faith  in  the 
mere  recitation  of  text-book  facts. 


84  Education  begins  with  sense-perception.  The  early 
and  methodical  training  of  the  perceptive  faculties 
enables  one  to  appropriate  more  of  the  material  world 
than  he  could  do  without  such  training.  The  earlier  a 
child  is  trained  to  see,  to  hear,  to  feel,  to  classify,  the 
earlier  its  real  life  begins.  Training,  in  its  true  edu- 
cational sense,  means  experience. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  35 

85  The  child's  world  is  the  material  world,  hence 
teachers  of  primary  grades  should  illustrate  abstract 
truths  by  means  of  objects.  At  all  ages,  illustrative 
teaching  is  more  interesting  to  the  pupil  and  makes 
more  lasting  impressions  upon  him  than  the  abstract 
recitation  of  text-book  facts.  Percepts  formed  through 
the  senses  are  more  lasting  than  those  formed  through 
verbal  description  alone. 

86  The  one  aim  of  school  life  is  character,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  child  into  a  self-reliant  personality.  Teach- 
ing which  does  not  incline  the  pupil  to  think  for  himself 
upon  all  subjects  is  indifferent  teaching.  The  teacher 
who  is  fettered  by  tradition  cannot  lead  pupils  to  inde- 
pendent thinking.  Only  the  free  can  lead  others  to 
freedom.  Only  to  the  extent  that  a  teacher  is  free  from 
traditional  beliefs  and  prejudices  is  he  free  to  seek  truth 
and  to  lead  his  pupils  to  seek  truth. 


87  Music  should  be  taught  in  all  schools.  No  other 
school  exercise  carries  with  it  so  much  of  the  moral 
power  of  education;  no  other  so  thoroughly  unites  a 
grade  of  pupils  in  one  concentrated  effort;  no  other 
so  thoroughly  teaches  pupils  the  value  of  attention 
and  interest  in  their  school  work;  no  other  exercise, 
especially  in  the  lower  grades,  so  thoroughly  awakens 
and  inspires  sleepy  and  stupid  pupils.  To  sing  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes  is  to  exercise  both  body  and  mind 
for  that  length  of  time.  The  exercise  is  almost  equal 
in  benefits  to  an  orderly  recess  of  the  same  duration. 


88  How  much  a  quiet  teacher  governs  her  school  by 
example  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  the  school  room.     A 


36  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

pleasant,  clear,  moderate  tone  of  voice  compels  not  only 
quiet  but  attention.  A  gesture  is  often  more  effective 
than  an  oral  command,  for  it  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
quietness.     Quiet  induces  quiet. 


89  Introduce  a  new  subject  in  a  plain,  illustrative  talk, 
before  assigning  a  lesson  in  the  text-book.  Be  in  no 
hurry  to  get  pupils  into  text-books.  Acquaint  them 
with  the  nature  of  a  subject  before  you  ask  them  to 
apply  its  definitions  and  rules.  Interest  pupils  first; 
drill  them  in  the  use  of  the  facts  afterward. 


90  Merely  hoping  and  trusting  will  no  more  get  results 
in  educational  work  than  in  any  other  work.  Ceaseless 
effort  is  the  price  of  results.  Pupils  should  be  kept 
busy;  they  should  be  given  all  the  work  they  can  do. 
Industry  is  essential  to  interest;  interest  is  the  condi- 
tion upon  which  progress  depends.  Lack  of  interest 
on  the  part  of  pupils  is  usually  due  to  a  lack  of  energy 
and  interest  on  the  part  of  teachers. 


91  Questioning  pupils  upon  their  lessons  during  the 
recitation  is  an  art — an  undiscovered  art  in  too  many 
schools.  Questioning  is  not  telling.  Proper  questions 
should  lead  the  pupil  to  tell — to  think.  Telling  licenses 
him  to  sleep. 

92  The  time  spent  in  class  criticism  by  pupils  is  almost 
wholly  wasted.  Require  the  pupil  who  blunders  to 
correct  himself.  Occasionally  a  pupil  might  be  heard 
in  criticism,  but  only  occasionally.  The  word  ( '  again  ' ' 
is  the  best  class  criticism. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  37 

93  Is  it  not  time  to  drop  the  belief  that  the  average  pupil 
cannot  think,  that  he  is  merely  a  machine,  that  he  must 
be  directed  by  telling  teachers  and  dead  authors,  that 
he  must  study  arithmetic  by  cases,  rules,  and  formulas? 
Pupils  are  underrated.  .  A  pupil's  explanation  of  a 
problem  in  arithmetic  or  a  fact  in  geography  or  history 
is  often  clearer  to  his  classmates  than  the  teacher's, 
because  the  simplicity  of  the  pupil's  language  gives  his 
classmates  a  clearer  and  completer  view  of  the  problem 
or  the  fact.  Thus  pupils  often  teach  not  only  their 
classmates  but  their  teachers. 


94  What  a  pupil  can  do  in  the  second  grade  depends 
upon  how  he  did  the  work  in  the  first  grade.  What  a 
pupil  can  do  in  the  third  grade  depends  upon  how  he 
did  the  work  of  the  first  and  second  grades.  What  a 
pupil  can  do  in  any  grade  above  the  first  depends  upon 
how  he  did  the  work  of  the  grades  he  has  passed — what 
depends  upon  how.  If  the  work  in  the  eight  grades  of 
a  graded  school  has  been  properly  done,  the  average 
pupil  is  fairly  well  qualified  to  meet  the  realities  of  life 
in  the  struggle  for  bread  and  clothes.  If  a  pupil  has 
been  properly  trained  in  the  common  school  to  rely  upon 
himself,  he  will  find  opportunity  to  extend  his  learning 
after  he  enters  the  world  of  business.  But  if  his  school 
days  were  spent  with  routine  teachers,  he  will  probably 
go  through  life  content  with  the  daily  newspaper  and 
the  cheap  novel.  uAs  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree  is 
inclined."  

95  Correct  teaching  seldom  goes  beyond  suggestion. 
Direct  help  is  usually  destructive  help.  Correct  teach- 
ing carefully  notes  a  pupil's  ability  and  furnishes  him 


38  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

with  all  he  can  do.  It  makes  haste  slowly.  It  converts 
learning  into  knowledge.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that 
only  what  is  understood  and  related  is  useful.  Correct 
teaching  corrects  bad  physical  habits  and  improper 
language  whenever  seen  or  heard.  It  finds  and  connects 
causes  and  results  and  shows  that  meaning  depends  upon 
relation.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  a  teacher's  work  is 
an  all  around  work — that  the  whole  pupil  should  be 
trained  in  all  that  truly  tends  to  educate  him. 


96  Clear  teaching  flows  from  a  clear  head  and  a  warm 
heart.  Muddy  and  wordy  illustrations  by  the  teacher 
cannot  convey  to  the  pupil  clear  ideas.  Teacher,  you 
should  feel  that  you  know.  The  sympathy  of  your 
pupils  will  enlarge  your  gifts  and  lighten  your  labor. 


97  Teaching  children  requires  some  knowledge  of  the 
laws  which  govern  mental  growth.  A  real  teacher  is 
one  capable  of  reproducing  in  the  minds  of  his  pupils 
his  own  ideas  and  mental  pictures.  He  is  able  to  lead 
his  pupils  to  see  things  as  he  sees  them.  He  is  able  to 
help  them  to  make  more  of  themselves  than  they  would 
without  his  guidance  and  to  accomplish  the  work  in 
less  time.  No  teacher  can  do  more  than  lead  a  pupil  to 
help  himself;  no  teacher  should  try  to  do  more. 


98  Method  inspires  or  stupefies.  Under  the  misdirection 
of  some  teachers,  children  acquire  mental  habits  which 
lead  them  to  dislike  books.  The  teachers  put  them  to 
sleep.  Teacher,  are  you  mentally  and  morally  awake? 
Have  you  convictions  of  your  own,  or  are  you  a  mere 
believer — a  mere  follower  of  others?     You  need  more 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  39 

than  belief;  you  need  conviction;  you  need  more  than 
conviction;  you  need  the  courage  of  conviction.  Teach- 
ers without  the  courage  of  conviction  may  keep  school, 
but  they  can  never  stimulate  mental  activity  in  children. 


99  The  number  of  "bad  boys  "  in  a  room,  in  the  first 
four  grades,  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the  kind  of 
teacher  in  the  room.  Where  competency  is  in  charge, 
superintendents  hear  little  about  "  bad  boys' '  who  are 
only  eight,  nine,  ten,  or  eleven  years  of  age.  When  a 
teacher  complains  of  the  conduct  of  pupils  in  a  primary 
grade,  she  confesses  her  unfitness — confesses  that  she 
lacks  the  energy,  tact,  and  presence  which  govern 
children.  Sitting  teachers,  dreaming  teachers,  telling 
teachers,  always  have  "the  hardest  rooms  in  town." 
If  the  pupils  are  restless,  idle,  and  mischievous,  the 
teacher  is  usually  responsible. 


100  Competent  assistants  govern  their  pupils.  They  do 
not  annoy  the  principal  and  the  superintendent  with 
the  details  of  their  work.  Superintendents  and  prin- 
cipals cannot  prescribe  specifics  for  any  school  disorder. 
They  cannot  supply  a  teacher  with  energy,  tact,  or 
perseverance.  In  the  lower  grades  the  chief  cause  of 
failure  is  want  of  energy  and  methodical  persistence. 
Persistence  in  correct  methods  always  yields  satisfac- 
tory results.     Success  everywhere  is  a  personal  result. 

101  Teacher,  trust  yourself  to  govern  your  school.  Lean 
on  purpose  and  tact  rather  than  upon  the  principal  and 
the  superintendent.  You  are  ///^responsible  one.  You 
cannot  shift  upon  any  one  else  the  responsibility  which 
your  duty  demands  of  you.     If  you  do  not  love  to  work 


40  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

yourself,  you  cannot  get  your  pupils  to  work.  You 
cannot  inspire  them  by  acts  of  pretention.  You  cannot 
hide  your  real  self.  Insincerity  is  written  in  every 
insincere  face.  

102  As  teachers  learn  how  to  interest  pupils  in  the  work 
of  the  school,  incorrigibles  ,c  cease  to  do  evil  and  learn 
to  do  well."  The  teacher  who  believes  in  the  total 
depravity  of  human  nature  seeks  to  hide  his  own  in- 
competency and  unfitness  in  the  hereditary  nature  of 
his  children.  Teachers  who  do  not  believe  in  children 
should  not  be  placed  in  charge  of  them.  Teachers 
who  believe  in  the  love  which  comes  through  fear 
know  little  of  history  and  less  of  sound  pedagogic 
principles.  

103  The  inspiration  which  leads  school  children  into 
studious  habits  is  born  of  character,  purpose,  and  energy 
on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  A  working  teacher  soon 
has  a  working  school;  a  mere  school-keeper,  an  indo- 
lent and  noisy  school.  Anybody  can  sit  in  a  chair, 
call  classes,  and  hear  pupils  recite  text-book  facts,  but 
such  soulless  routine  is  not  training  pupils  to  think  for 
themselves.  If  pupils  learn  in  school  only  to  believe, 
the  school  is  but  a  school  in  name — a  legal  formality. 
The  contented  teacher  is  a  decaying  teacher.  Intel- 
lectual and  moral  contentment  means  intellectual  and 
moral  stagnation.  The  teacher  who  has  realized  his 
ideal  school  should  quit  the  school  room.  He  should 
seek  the  grave,  or  some  vocation  where  his  ideas  of  life 
would  work  less  injury  than  in  the  school  room. 


104  presence  speaks.     Children  six  years  old  recognize 
the  quality  of  a  teacher's  presence.     They  are  seldom 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  41 

mistaken  in  what  a  teacher's  face  expresses.  A  passive 
and  characterless  expression  means  easy  discipline  and 
indefinite  and  soulless  instruction.  A  slow  and  labored 
bodily  movement  encourages  like  movements  on  the 
part  of  pupils.  Enthusiasm,  mental  and  physical, 
produces  enthusiasm,  mental  and  physical.  All  suc- 
cessful teachers  are  quick,  earnest,  and  positive,  in 
speech  and  action.     A  successful  teacher  is  an  idealist. 


105  The  habits  acquired  by  children  in  school  usually 
bless  or  blight  their  entire  lives.  Methods  of  instruc- 
tion encourage  or  discourage  mental  growth.  A  pupil's 
mental  condition  when  he  quits  school  depends  largely 
upon  how  he  was  trained  when  in  school.  His  *  'school- 
ing "  may  have  been  his  one  great  misfortune.  Some 
pupils  almost  lose  their  minds  while  in  charge  of  incom- 
petent and  indolent  teachers.  A  mind  naturally  active 
requires  exercise — exercise  which  will  strengthen  it. 
If  it  is  not  properly  exercised  it  will  fall  asleep.  If  it 
is  not  supplied  with  stimulus  of  the  right  quality  it  will 
become  atrophied.  The  law  of  growth  is  a  simple  one 
— use  gives  use.        . 

108  Children  cannot  be  governed  by  brute  force.  Whip- 
ping pupils  is  a  cheap  device  in  which  incompetent 
teachers  hope  to  hide  their  own  weaknesses.  Without 
proper  government  there  can  be  no  instruction.  Public 
schools  cannot  undertake  to  rear  children.  They  cannot 
undertake  to  make  good  the  shortcomings  of  homes  in 
which  the  parents  have  no  control  over  their  children — in 
which  profanity,  obscenity,  brutality,  and  drunkenness 
are  daily  exhibitions.  In  a  well  governed  school,  the 
pupils  are  equals.     Each  pupil  is,  morally  and  legally, 


42  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

entitled  to  his  or  her  part  of  the  teacher's  time — to  an 
equal  part  of  it — no  more.  No  teacher  should  permit 
an  idle,  street-bred  boy  to  rob  thirty  or  forty  well-mean- 
ing pupils  of  their  opportunity.  If  a  boy  cannot  be 
governed  without  the  constant  vigilance  of  the  teacher, 
he  should  be  suspended.  Suspension  is  the  only  proper 
remedy.  

107  The  manner  in  which  pupuls  do  their  school  tasks 
describes  the  teacher.  The  manner  in  which  pupils 
express  themselves  speaks  volumes  for  or  against 
the  methods  of  the  teacher.  Teachers  are  ever  on  exhi- 
bition. The  ideal  school,  good  or  bad,  is  seen  in  every 
thing  the  teacher  does.  The  manner  in  which  the 
mechanical  work  of  schools  is  done  needs  more  atten- 
tion than  it  usually  receives.  It  should  be  neatly  done. 
Every  lesson  should  train  the  pupil  in  several  things  at 
the  same  time.  Lessons  are  means  to  an  end— only 
means.  . 

108  Ideals  are  formed  by  comparing  things  of  the  same 
kind.  An  ideal  school  is  formed  by  comparing  schools. 
A  school  is  good  only  when  compared  with  other  good 
schools.  Method  is  good  only  when  compared  with 
other  good  methods.  A  teacher  is  a  success  or  a  failure 
only  when  he  is  compared  with  successful  teachers. 
Hence  teachers  should  visit  schools,  study  books  on 
teaching,  and  read  school  journals. 


109  Teacher,  if  you  lack  the  power  of  presence,  develop 
it;  if  you  lack  vigor  of  speech,  acquire  it;  if  you  lack 
energy  of  bodily  movement,  develop  it;  if  you  lack 
enthusiasm,  generate  it;  if  you  do  not  love  children, 
quit  teaching  school. 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  43 

110  In  a  room  seating  more  than  thirty  pupils,  there 
should  be  three  classes:  a  C  class,  a  B  class,  and  an  A 
class.  Pupils  should  be  promoted  from  the  C  class  to 
the  B  class,  from  the  B  class  to  the  A  class,  and  from 
the  A  class  to  the  next  higher  grade  whenever  the  work 
of  their  classes  or  grades  does  not  tax  them  with  all 
they  can  do.  This  classification  of  a  grade  or  of  a 
room  not  only  offers  the  classes  the  best  opportunity 
for  promotion,  but  it  also  offers  the  individual  pupil 
the  best  chance  for  advancement. 


111  In  the  primary  grades  pupils  should  make  statements 
and  answer  questions  in  concise,  complete  sentences. 
Recitation  in  the  form  of  complete  sentences  leaves  a 
clearer  and  deeper  impression  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil 
than  recitation  in  the  form  of  words  and  phrases.  It 
requires  closer  attention  and  carries  with  it  greater 
interest  and  feeling.  The  manner  in  which  a  pupil 
does  his  school  work  measures  the  value  of  his  oppor- 
tunity. Training  in  its  true  pedagogical  sense  is 
helpful;  mere  recitation,  hurtful.  The  mere  recitation 
of  the  language  of  a  text-book  cannot  develop  thought 
power,  nor  cultivate  self-reliance.  Teaching  which 
does  not  train  a  pupil  to  believe  in  himself  has  little 
intellectual  value.  Training  in  expression  should  con- 
stitute a  part  of  the  teacher's  work  in  every  school 
exercise  below  the  high  school.  Exact  teaching  culti- 
vates clear  thinking  and  exact  expression  on  the  part 
of  pupils.  Indifferent  teaching  encourages  in  them 
muddy  thinking  and  slovenly  expression.  Pupils 
consciously  and  unconsciously  imitate  their  teachers. 
The  teacher  is  the  pupil's  ideal. 


44  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

112  Pupils  should  not  be  permitted  to  hesitate  when 
called  upon  to  recite.  They  should  not  be  permitted 
u  to  get  their  lesson  "  in  the  class.  They  should  go 
to  the  recitation  fully  prepared  and  should  respond  to 
questions  readily  and  cheerfully.  Pupils  should  be 
trained  to  recognize  recitation  hour  as  the  most  impor- 
tant hour  of  the  day.  Each  pupil  of  the  class  should 
be  called  upon  to  do  his  part  of  the  class  task;  each 
should  be  required  to  exhibit  himself.  If  a  pupil  hesi- 
tates and  blunders,  stop  him  and  call  another  pupil. 
Do  not  wait  upon  the  blunderer;  do  not  help  him;  do 
not  lecture  him,  but  quietly  call  another  pupil.  Give 
delinquents  another  chance  to  recite,  but  do  not  scold 
them.  A  recitation  is  strictly  a  business  affair  and 
should  be  conducted  in  a  business  manner.  The  reci- 
tation should  have  a  moral  as  well  as  an  intellectual 
value.  It  should  teach  pupils  that  uL,ife  is  real;  Life 
is  earnest."  There  is  no  room  in  school  exercises  for 
any  form  of  sentimentalism.  Energy,  enthusiasm, 
tact,  dispatch,  and  impartiality,  should  characterize 
every  recitation.  Wakefulness  on  the  part  of  both 
teacher  and  pupils  is  a  necessity. 


113  The  masses  still  believe  that  anybody  can  teach 
school.  They  confess  that  the  lawyer,  the  minister, 
and  the  physician  should  be  professionally  trained,  but 
not  the  teacher.  They  believe  that  the  watchmaker 
should  serve  an  apprenticeship  under  skilled  workmen, 
but  not  the  teacher.  Now  the  mechanism  of  a  watch 
is  simple  when  compared  to  the  complex  mechanism  of 
the  mind.  The  study  of  the  mind  of  another  is  a  sub- 
tile art.     The  complex  character  of  the  teacher's  work 


PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES.  45 

is  known  only  to  those  who  have  made  a  study  of  the 
science  of  education  and  been  properly  trained  in  the 
art  of  instruction.  A  teacher,  ignorant  of  the  laws  of 
mental  development  and  of  child  nature  is,  at  best,  a 
mere  peddler  of  text-book  facts.  Teaching  is  more 
than  recitation  hearing.  Any  human  machine  can 
hear  pupils  recite  the  words  of  a  text-book,  but  it 
requires  a  teacher  to  train  pupils  to  think. 


114  In  the  selection  of  teachers  great  care  is  due  children, 
tax-payers,  successful  teachers,  superintendents,  and 
incompetent  applicants.  Great  care  is  due  children, 
for  the  school  is  their  opportunity;  great  care  is  due 
tax-payers,  for  they  are  entitled  to  the  best  schools  their 
taxes  will  provide;  great  care  is  due  successful  teachers, 
for  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  compete  with 
incompetent  applicants;  great  care  is  due  superintend- 
ents, for  they  should  not  be  subjected  to  unfriendly 
criticism  from  incompetent  teachers  and  their  friends; 
great  care  is  due  incompetent  applicants  themselves, 
for  it  would  save  them  the  humiliation  of  failure;  great 
care  is  due  every  school  interest,  for  nine-tenths  of  all 
school  difficulties  in  the  management  of  schools  arise 
with  incompetent  teachers. 


115  In  the  selection  of  teachers  greater  care  is  demanded 
than  in  the  selection  of  any  other  class  of  public  or  pri- 
vate servants,  on  account  of  the  nature  and  the  character 
of  the  teacher's  work.  Every  reason  which  can  be 
assigned  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
schools,  is  also  a  reason  for  exercising  the  greatest  care 
in  the  selection  of  teachers.     I  am  strongly  in  favor  of 


46  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

"home  talent,"  but  not  of  unqualified  home  talent. 
Home  is  often  a  very  narrow  conception.  The  only 
way  to  improve  the  quality  of  "home  talent"  is  to 
throw  open  the  school-houses  to  outside  talent.  The 
sentiment  which  cries  "home  talent,"  qualified  or 
unqualified,  is  generated  in  a  thimble. 


116  The  school  fund  is  distinctly  the  children's  fund.  It 
is  levied  and  collected  for  the  benefit  of  children,  hence 
it  is  clearly  the  most  sacred  of  all  funds.  Not  one  cent 
of  it  should  ever  knowingly  be  paid  to  an  incompetent 
or  indifferent  teacher.  Competency,  character,  faithful- 
ness, duty  done,  constitute  the  only  basis  for  the  selec- 
tion of  teachers,  as  well  as  the  only  ground  for  their 
continuance  in  the  schools. 


117  The  schools  belong  to  the  people.  School  boards  do 
not  have  either  the  legal  or  the  moral  right  to  tempo- 
rize with  the  rights  of  children  in  the  interests  of  indi- 
viduals. The  public  school  fund  should  not  be  used  as 
a  charity  fund  for  needy  families.  Personal  sympathy 
should  not  influence  official  action.  Schools  have  a 
much  higher  and  holier  mission  than  charity.  Children 
are  entitled  to  the  best  opportunities  suggested  by  the 
law.  The  inalienable  rights  of  the  poorest  child  are  as 
sacred  as  those  of  the  wealthiest. 


PART  SECOND. 

Special  Suggestions. 


A  genuine  interest  in  problems  of  education  helps  to  keep  us 
young,  for  it  carries  us  back  to  our  own  spring  time  and  to  the 
company  of  children.  It  is  also  an  evidence  that  we  ourselves 
have  not  ceased  to  grow,  and  are  therefore  not  yet  old. 

Bishop  of  Peoria.  J.  L.  SPALDING. 


48 


READING. 

First  Step. — Use  symbols  or  words  for  ideas  already 
in  the  child's  mind.  Associate  the  object  with  the  word 
until  the  recalling  of  one  suggests  the  other.  You  can- 
not teach  words  which  do  not  symbolize  ideas  already 
in  the  mind  of  the  child.  Concepts  are  represented  by 
words — by  common  nouns;  but  these  words  are  mean- 
ingless until  they  awaken  in  the  mind  of  the  child  cor- 
responding mental  images  acquired  through  sense  per- 
ception. That  is,  teachers  cannot  give  pupils  ideas  at 
any  age.  Instruction  may  awaken  and  enlarge  what  the 
mind  has  already  acquired  by  its  own  activity;  it  cannot 
create  anything.  A  clear  recognition  of  this  psycho- 
logical fact  is  the  beginning  of  success  in  teaching. 

Charts  containing  pictures  of  familiar  objects,  and  the 
objects  themselves,  aid  in  associating  words  and  ideas. 
Make  much  of  the  illustrations  on  the  charts  and  in  the 
primers.  Be  in  no  hurry  to  get  pupils  to  reading  in 
formal  classes.  Train  the  six-year-old  to  see  the  many 
things  in  the  pictures;  then  require  him  to  tell  you 
what  he  sees.  Make  the  lesson  a  language  lesson. 
The  use  of  words  which  carry  with  them  pictures  and 
feeling  interests  children.  Strive  to  reach  the  child's 
heart  as  well  as  his  head. 

Present  only  two  or  three  new  words  at  a  lesson. 
Write  the  new  words  on  the  board  and  see  that  the  chil- 
dren learn  them.  Train  the  pupil  to  pronounce  the 
new  words  readily  and  correctly.  A  pupil  should  not 
stop  to  spell  the  word.  He  should  know  every  word  at 
49 


50  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

sight  before  he  attempts  to  read  the  story.  Drill,  drill, 
drill  on  the  new  words.  A  pupil  must  see,  spell,  and 
pronounce  a  new  word  several  times  before  he  acquires 
a  lasting  image  of  it. 

Review  frequently.  Occasionally  require  a  pupil  to 
read  the  whole  "story."  Question  the  children  about 
the  "  story" — the  pictures,  their  experiences,  etc.,  etc. 
Get  near  to  the  children,  the  nearer  the  better. 

Second  Step. — Sight  reading,  or  recalling  at  sight 
short  sentences  as  wholes.  Children  should  be  trained 
to  see  sentences  as  wholes,  to  name  the  words  without 
hesitancy.  If  a  pupil  hesitates,  his  reading  is  not  read- 
ing, but  measured  word-calling.  Pupils  should  not  be 
permitted  to  read  a  lesson  aloud  until  the  new  words 
and  the  new  illustrations  have  been  studied  and  mas- 
tered. No  one  can  give  proper  expression  to  words 
whose  meaning  he  does  not  understand.  Correct  ex- 
pression depends  upon  correct  interpretation.  Seek 
quality  rather  than  quantity  in  the  reading  exercises. 
Train  pupils  from  the  beginning  to  seek  the  thought. 
This  you  can  do  if  the  thought  is  within  their  grasp. 

Third  Step. — Reading  to  learn  is  naturally  the  next 
step  in  reading.  A  child  must  first  learn  to  read,  then 
he  should  be  trained  in  getting  thought  from  the  printed 
page.  In  the  more  advanced  reading  exercises,  the 
pupils  should  understand  the  subject  of  the  lesson  before 
they  are  required  to  read  it  aloud.  They  should  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  prominent  objects  mentioned 
and  facts  stated  before  they  attempt  to  express  the 
thought  of  the  author.  That  is,  the  lesson  should  be 
studied  by  the  pupils  and  by  the  teacher  before  it  is 
used  in  a  reading  exercise. 


READING.  51 

Teach  one  thing  at  a  time.  If  proper  emphasis  is 
the  thing  sought,  let  it  be  the  only  thing;  if  inflection, 
let  it  be  inflection  only;  if  naturalness  of  tone,  train  the 
pupils  in  that  alone.  One  principle  at  a  time  until  each 
of  the  more  important  principles  is  mastered,  then  train 
the  pupils  to  observe  all  of  them  in  everything  they 
read.  In  most  schools  little  or  no  attention  is  paid  to 
emphasis,  inflection,  or  rate.  The  reading  habit,  good 
or  bad,  is  acquired  during  the  first  four  years.  Pupils 
should  learn  to  read  in  the  primary  grades. 

Combine  the  alphabet,  the  phonic,  the  word,  and  the 
sentence  method.  It  requires  the  combination  of  all 
methods  to  make  the  best  method.  There  is  no  one 
best  way  of  doing  anything.  Success  is  the  best  way. 
No  one  has  a  monopoly  of  brains  or  correct  methods. 
The  teacher  is  the  method.  The  personality  of  a  live 
teacher  is  greater  than  any  method.  Individual  power 
cannot  be  copyrighted.  Study  methods,  but  be  your- 
self. The  conscious  imitator  is  usually  an  unconscious 
failure.     Man  is  great,  but  men  are  greater. 

A  pupil  learns  to  read  by  being  drilled  in  reading. 
Drill,  drill,  drill.  The  primary  teacher  is  little  more 
than  a  drill  master.  Every  child  should  read  two  first 
readers  and  two  second  readers,  or  the  equivalent  of  two 
of  each.  Drilling  in  what  he  can  understand  is  his  only 
hope  of  learning  to  read  with  expression  and  feeling. 

Teach  reading  in  all  that  pupils  read.  Why  observe 
the  punctuation  marks  in  the  reader  and  not  in  the 
geography,  the  history,  and  the  arithmetic?  Why 
permit  a  pupil  to  disregard  in  any  study  or  exercise 
what  he  was  taught  to  observe  in  another  study  or  ex- 
ercise?    Why  permit  a  pupil  to  revive  a  bad  habit  by 


52  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

indifference?  The  one  virtue  in  teaching  is  persistency 
of  purpose.  Many  teachers  fail  because  they  are  spas- 
modic in  their  efforts.  There  is  an  infinity  of  difference 
between  a  well  developed  purpose  and  a  spasm.  One 
usually  leads  to  success,  the  other  to  failure. 

The  more  uniform  and  exacting  a  teacher's  methods, 
the  less  the  time  and  labor  required  to  establish  a  habit. 
Habit  is  the  result  of  methodical  and  persistent  repe- 
tition. Education  ends  in  habit.  An  earnest  and 
persistent  purpose  is  back  of  every  success.  God 
gives  nothing  for  the  mere  asking.  Effort  accompan- 
ies all  successful  prayers.  "Faith  without  works  is 
dead." 

The  only  way  to  teach  a  pupil  to  read  is  to  drill  him 
in  reading.  Drill,  drill,  drill  him  until  he  can  recog- 
nize and  pronounce  words  without  a  conscious  mental 
struggle.  He  should  be  drilled  until  he  does  not  stop 
to  think.  Teacher,  if  the  reading  in  your  school  is 
soulless,  it  is  your  fault.  Take  a  spirited  selection  and 
drill  upon  it  until  the  pupils  catch  its  spirit. 

If  teachers  would  interest  pupils  in  a  reading  lesson, 
they  must  be  interested  in  the  lesson  themselves.  In- 
terest begets  interest.  The  sincere  and  purposeful 
teacher  can  become  interested  in  the  simplest  stories. 
A  teacher  can  no  more  interest  a  class  in  the  first  reader 
without  preparation  than  a  college  professor  can  interest 
a  class  in  the  "Binomial  Theorem "  without  prepara- 
tion. A  teacher  should  be  able  to  give  the  moral  and 
the  spiritual  meaning  of  every  lesson,  however  seem- 
ingly plain  and  simple.  He  should  teach  pupils  from 
the  beginning  that  words  are  only  the  signs  of  ideas — 
that  the  heart  of  things  is  unseen. 


SPELLING. 

As  we  spell  only  when  we  write,  the  eye  should  be 
trained  from  the  start  to  recognize  the  combination  of 
letters  which  represents  the  sounds  recognized  by  the 
ear.  As  soon  as  a  pupil  can  write,  he  should  be  required 
to  copy  the  spelling  lessons  in  his  readers  and  spelling 
books.  If  he  is  required  to  copy  his  spelling  lessons, 
he  will  give  closer  attention  to  the  form  of  the  word  than 
when  he  merely  studies  the  lesson  and  spells  the  words 
orally.  Written  spelling  lessons  are  also  exercises  in 
penmanship.  The  written  spelling  lesson  gives  the 
teacher  a  rare  opportunity  to  train  pupils  in  habits  of 
order,  neatness,  and  promptness. 

Spell  and  re-spell  all  new  words  as  they  occur  in  each 
study.  In  this  way  spelling  is  taught  with  all  the  other 
studies. 

Spend  no  time  in  spelling  words  which  the  pupil  will 
seldom  or  never  use.  Pay  no  attention  to  unimportant 
geographical  and  historical  names.  It  is  enough  that 
a  pupil  recognizes  them  readily  in  reading. 

In  the  first  three  grades,  or  during  the  first  three 
years  of  a  child's  school  life,  the  spelling  lessons  should 
consist  largely  in  copying  sentences  and  new  words.  In 
this  way  pupils  in  the  lower  grades  acquire  by  imita- 
tion the  correct  spelling  of  simple  words. 

Keep  lists  of  words  frequently  misspelled  and  make 
special  lessons  of  them.  Concentrate  the  attention  of 
the  class  upon  the  misspelled  words;  ascertain,  if  possi- 
ble, why  they  were  misspelled;  call  attention  to  the 
53 


54  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

very  letters  in  these  words  which  most  probably  caused 
the  pupil  to  misspell  them;  bring  into  clear  conscious- 
ness the  correct  form  of  the  misspelled  words. 

Spelling  is  a  form  study.  In  the  primary  grades, 
especially,  the  chief  reliance  is  upon  the  sense  of  sight. 
Pupils  must  acquire  correct  mental  images  of  words  or 
they  cannot  recall  their  correct  spelling.  Train  pupils 
to  see  words,  to  see  the  different  syllables  of  a  word,  to 
see  the  correct  form  of  a  word.  Train  them  to  pro- 
nounce each  syllable  distinctly  and  correctly.  Require 
them  to  commit  to  memory  a  few  of  the  rules  for 
spelling;  and  then  drill,  drill,  drill  them  in  the  use 
of  the  rules.  Require  them  to  use  every  word  in  their 
formal  spelling  lessons  in  thoughtful  sentences.  The 
use  of  the  word  will  aid  in  fixing  its  form  more  perma- 
nently in  the  mind  of  the  pupil. 

In  the  first,  second,  and  third  reader  grades,  a  spell- 
ing book  is  not  needed.  The  pupils  should  spell  the 
list  of  words  at  the  beginning  of  each  lesson,  and  such 
other  words  as  the  teacher  may  select  from  the  lesson. 
The  words  should  then  be  used  by  the  pupils  in  original 
sentences.  The  nouns  should  be  used  as  subjects  of 
verbs — that  is,  the  pupils  should  be  required  to  say 
something  about  the  nouns  and  the  pronouns.  The 
words  thus  selected  constitute  a  natural  spelling  lesson. 
The  mere  spelling  of  a  list  of  words  orally  counts  for 
little.  A  pupil's  vocabulary  is  enlarged  only  by  the 
use  of  words. 


LANGUAGE. 


As  the  object  to  be  accomplished  in  the  study  of 
English  grammar  is  often  misunderstood,  I  submit  a 
few  general  suggestions  in  regard  to  method  in  teaching 
English  in  the  common  schools. 

A  teacher  should  know  what  he  is  going  to  teach  and 
how  he  is  going  to  teach  it  before  he  begins  his  work. 
Scanty  knowledge  of  a  subject  and  immature  and  indefi- 
nite methods  of  presenting  it  to  a  class  cannot  but  yield 
unsatisfactory  results.  The  possible  ways  of  presenting 
any  subject  are  many.  A  multitude  of  earnest,  grow- 
ing teachers  are  not  only  adding  new  methods  of  pre- 
senting text-book  facts,  but  are  making  new  incursions 
into  the  field  of  tradition. 

A  pupil  cannot  acquire  a  correct  use  of  language  by 
studying  technical  grammar.  Until  he  can  think  intel- 
ligently and  use  words  reflectively,  text-book  grammar 
has  no  meaning  to  him.  A  pupil  cannot  acquire  the 
art  of  expression  by  merely  reciting  the  laws  which 
govern  the  expression  of  thought.  The  formal  gram- 
mar of  a  language  is  a  science.  The  study  of  English 
grammar,  at  any  age,  is  only  a  help  to  the  mastery  of 
good  English.  Thinking  is  the  only  remedy  for  slov- 
enly language;  revision  the  only  cure  for  verbosity. 

Habit  cannot  be  overcome  by  rules.  Rules  merely 
state  the  well  established  facts  of  grammar.  The  appli- 
cation of  the  rules  depends  entirely  upon  the  learner. 
Good  English  is  not  the  gift  of  text-books.  Clearness 
and  force  in  speaking  and  in  writing  are  acquired  only 
55 


56  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

by  practice.  The  study  of  trie  dry  facts  of  grammar  can 
never  be  interesting  or  profitable  to  grammar  school 
pupils.  The  facts  are  too  abstract.  The  object  to  be 
secured  in  language-work  is  facility  in  the  correct  use 
of  words.  This  result  can  never  be  attained  by  the 
mere  recitation  of  grammatical  facts. 

Teachers  should  aim  to  teach  children  to  express  their 
thoughts  in  simple  and  correct  forms.  But  a  pupil 
should  never  be  asked  to  express  himself  until  he  sees 
clearly  what  he  is  asked  to  say.  Accuracy  of  expres- 
sion depends  upon  clearness  of  thought.  The  time  to 
correct  a  pupil's  speech  is  when  it  needs  correcting. 
Then  is  the  time  for  a  lesson  in  language.  The  only 
cure  for  the  use  of  bad  English  is  revision  until  the 
incorrect  statement  or  illustration  is  changed  into  a 
clean,  concise  statement.  Teachers  should  constantly 
bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  one  lesson  in  the  reflective 
use  of  words  in  the  expression  of  original  thought  is 
worth  to  the  pupil  many  text-book  recitations  of  gram- 
matical facts. 

Pupils  should  be  thoroughly  drilled  in  the  use  of  pro- 
nouns. Many  of  the  mistakes  in  writing  and  in  speak- 
ing occur  in  the  use  of  pronouns.  The  mere  recitation 
of  the  grammatical  rules  which  govern  their  use  will 
not  fix  the  correct  forms  in  the  minds  of  pupils.  Pupils 
should  be  required  to  use  all  the  forms  of  pronouns  in 
sentences,  and  tell  why  a  certain  form  was  used  in 
preference  to  another  form.  In  each  case  he  should 
give  the  rule  requiring  the  use  of  the  correct  form. 

Irregular  and  auxiliary  verbs  should  be  treated  in  a 
similar  manner.  The  mere  conjugation  of  irregular 
verbs  will  not  fix  the  correct   forms  in  the  minds  of 


LANGUAGE.  57 

pupils.  They  must  be  led  to  see  their  correct  use 
through  their  meaning.  Pupils  must  think  the  correct 
forms  of  pronouns  and  auxiliary  verbs  into  habitual  use. 

Language- work  without  an  aim  has  about  had  its  day. 
Much  of  the  so-called  language-work  in  the  primary 
grades  is  merely  busy  work  without  results.  Busy 
work  in  the  primary  grades  which  makes  little  or  no 
demands  upon  pupils  has  no  more  value  to  them  than 
mere  routine  has  to  pupils  in  the  grammar  grades.  The 
kind  of  work  required  in  many  of  the  so-called  "  Lan- 
guage Lessons"  is  valueless,  because  it  is  merely 
formal. 

The  teacher  of  English  grammar  should  ever  bear  in 
mind  the  following  facts: 

In  the  English  language,  a  word  does  not  belong 
exclusively  to  a  single  class  or  part  of  speech.  The 
part  of  speech  to  which  a  word  belongs  in  a  particular 
sentence  depends  upon  its  use  in  that  sentence.  That 
is,  the  same  form  of  a  word  may  do  the  work  of  several 
parts  of  speech. 

If  we  place  the  possessive  forms  of  nouns  with  limit- 
ing adjectives,  the  noun  has  but  one  case-form,  the 
nominative.     It  varies  in  form  only  to  denote  possession. 

Personal  pronouns  have  fixed  forms  for  different  uses — 
number-forms,  person-forms,  gender-forms,  and  case- 
forms.  These  forms  should  be  mastered  and  their  uses 
exhibited  in  original  sentences. 

The  changes  in  the  form  of  the  verb  to  correspond  to 
changes  in  its  subject  are  very  limited.  With  the 
exception  of  the  verb  be,  in  the  indicative  mode,  pres- 
ent and  past  tenses,  singular  number,  there  are  but  few 
changes  in  the  form  of  the  English  verb  to  denote  per- 
son, number,  tense,  mode,  or  voice. 


58  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

The  adjective  keeps  the  same  form  whether  joined  to 
a  singular  or  to  a  plural  noun.  It  is  inflected  to  show 
degree  only.  Most  adverbs  are  derived  from  adjectives 
and  take  the  same  inflection.  An  average  pupil  should 
learn  all  there  is  of  inflection  of  the  verb,  the  adjective, 
and  the  adverb  in  one  week.  Thus  we  see  that  the 
English  language  is,  comparatively,  an  uninflected  lan- 
guage. However,  a  mastery  of  the  English  sentence  is 
the  work  of  a  life-time. 

If  most  of  the  time  now  spent  in  many  schools  in 
reciting  the  facts  of  grammar  were  spent  in  expressing 
thought,  it  would  not  be  long  until  the  average  high 
school  graduate  could  write  a  correct  application  for  a 
situation,  or  express,  in  ten  words,  a  ten-word  message. 
He  cannot  do  it  now  although  he  has  studied  text-book 
grammar  for  years.  He  has  declined  nouns  and  pro- 
nouns, conjugated  verbs,  compared  adjectives  and 
adverbs,  imprisoned  sentences  in  diagrams,  but  still  he 
cannot  correctly  describe  an  event,  nor  state  a  fact  in 
clean,  concise  English. 

Now  this  fact  is  not  charged  against  the  pupil,  but 
against  the  method  of  teaching  English.  The  pupil 
has  spent  years  in  studying  grammar,  but  has  given  to 
the  use  of  language  little  or  no  thought.  He  has 
recited,  but  not  created.  Driving  cold,  unrelated  facts 
into  a  pupil's  head  is  not  developing  him.  Mere  facts 
are  valueless;  mere  learning  soulless.  A  pupil's  head 
may  be  brim  full  of  theory,  yet  he  may  lack  the  power 
to  express  his  thoughts  in  clean,  smooth  English. 

When  a  pupil  has  learned  a  grammatical .  fact,  he 
should  be  required  to  use  it.  Use  fixes  the  knowledge. 
If  you  would  interest  pupils  in  the  study  of  language, 


LANGUAGE.  59 

you  must  get  them  to  using  language.  As  there  is 
little  for  a  learner  to  commit  to  memory  in  English  gram- 
mar, he  should  spend  part  of  every  day  in  sentence- 
building  or  in  some  other  form  of  composition  work. 
Pupils  should  be  required  to  write  business  letters,  biog- 
raphies, descriptions  of  journeys,  accounts  of  recent 
events,  narratives  of  personal  experiences,  etc. 

Every  lesson  heard  in  school  should  be  a  language 
lesson;  every  incorrect  expression  should  be  questioned 
by  the  teacher  and  corrected  by  the  pupil;  every  wordy 
statement  or  explanation  should  be  revised  by  the  pupil 
until  it  is  clear  and  concise.  The  use  of  language, 
good  or  bad,  is  a  growth.  Habit  is  the  result  of  repe- 
tition. Teachers  should  ever  be  on  the  alert  in  regard 
to  the  language  used  by  their  pupils  in  the  recitation. 
Exact  concise  statements  from  pupils.  Ask  for  revis- 
ion of  every  incorrect  or  wordy  statement;  be  ever  on 
the  watch  for  verbose  statements.  The  liberal  use  of 
the  word  ( '  again  ' '  will  do  more  to  correct  slovenly  and 
wordy  statements  than  all  the  rules  of  syntax  ever  writ- 
ten. Keep  pupils  constantly  on  their  guard  in  all  they 
say  in  your  presence.  Watch  them  until  thoughtful 
expression  becomes  a  habit  with  them.  One  can  dis- 
lodge the  use  of  incorrect  expressions  only  by  a  purpose 
to  dislodge  them,  and  by  a  persistent  use  of  correct 
forms  of  speech. 

As  soon  as  pupils  can  write  a  fairly  good  hand  they 
should  be  required  to  reproduce,  from  memory,  the  best 
selections  from  their  readers  or  their  story  books. 
These  selections  should  be  thoroughly  discussed  by  the 
teacher  and  the  pupils  in  the  class  before  they  are 
assigned  for  reproduction. 


6o  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

Writing  letters  to  real,  absent  persons  is  an  interest- 
ing and  valuable  exercise  in  the  lower  grades.  In  all 
composition  exercises,  accept  none  but  the  very  best  the 
pupil  can  do,  but  do  not  discourage  him  by  criticising 
the  unimportant  errors.  Call  his  attention  to  only  the 
more  important  ones.  Children  should  not  be  too 
closely  criticised  in  their  composition  work.  The  supe- 
rior wisdom  of  teachers  often  discourages  pupils. 

Short  compositions  on  familiar  subjects — the  more 
familiar  the  better — written  according  to  an  outline 
given  by  the  teacher,  usually  interests  pupils  in  the  use 
and  study  of  language.  The  use  of  language  gives 
meaning  to  words. 

The  reproduction  of  interesting  stories  from  the  read- 
ers is  a  valuable  training  in  the  use  of  language. 
i{  Reproduction  n  should  have  a  place  on  every  school 
programme  from  the  first  year  of  school  life  to  the  last 
one.  It  should  continue  through  the  high  school 
course. 

Require  pupils  to  reproduce  short  stories  told  by  the 
teacher.  Such  exercises  train  pupils  to  hear  correctly 
and  to  habits  of  attention.  Frequent  exercises  in  writ- 
ing short  sentences  dictated  by  the  teacher  will  yield 
good  results.  The  dictation  exercises  should  induct- 
ively teach  grammatical  facts — that  is,  the  exercises 
should  be  arranged  upon  a  methodical  plan  with  a 
definite  end  in  view.  Each  exercise  should  drill  the 
class  in  the  correct  use  of  words  and,  incidentally,  teach 
a  grammatical  fact.     The  fact  is  secondary  in  value. 

Dictation  exercises,  when  properly  presented,  aid  in 
giving  the  idea  of  the  sentence  and  in  teaching  the  cor- 
rect use    of  capitals    and  punctuation.     The  exercises 


LANGUAGE.  61 

should  be  short.  The  plan  of  giving  them  and  of  cor- 
recting them  is  important.  Principles  should  first  be 
taught  and  the  exercises  should  be  used  to  fix  them  in 
the  mind  of  the  pupil.  Pupils  should  be  made  to  see 
their  own  mistakes  and  to  correct  them  as  a  part  of  the 
recitation.  In  the  criticism  of  written  work  it  is  well 
to  combine  in  one  exercise  the  mistakes  common  to  the 
class.  Write  this  upon  the  board.  Have  children  dis- 
cover mistakes  by  judicious  questioning.  When  each 
pupil  understands  what  is  correct,  have  him,  as  a  part 
of  the  lesson,  correct  his  own  mistakes  and  express  him- 
self properly.     Cultivate  a  quick  "  mental  conscience  ". 

Pupils  should  be  trained  to  see  and  to  hear  correctly. 
In  dictation  exercises,  the  sentence  should  be  read  but 
once,  slowly  and  distinctly,  then  the  class  should  repro- 
duce what  was  given.  Pupils  are  made  alert  by  know- 
ing they  are  to  be  called  upon  to  give  correctly  what 
they  have  missed  in  any  recitation. 

The  end  to  be  sought  in  the  study  of  language  is  the 
ability  to  find  the  meaning  of  written  or  printed  sen- 
tences and  to  clothe  thought  in  correct  forms.  Sincer- 
ity and  simplicity  of  expression  in  all  oral  or  written 
language-work  are  to  be  aimed  at  constantly.  The 
material  selected  for  exercises,  whether  poem,  story  or 
reading  lesson,  should  be  of  the  best.  Copying  or  any 
written  work  should  not  be  given  in  too  great  quantity 
or  as  employment  merely,  to  be  erased  without  being 
examined.  Short  exercises  done  with  care  in  the  details 
and  in  a  good  hand  writing  will  be.  found  most 
profitable. 

In  the  lower  grades,  require  the  pupils  daily  to  copy 
a  lesson  from  their  readers.     Put  them  to  copying  from 


62  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

the  blackboard  and  from  text-books  as  soon  as  they  can 
write.  The  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  accustom  them 
to  correct  spelling,  punctuation,  and  capitalization  by 
unconscious  imitation,  Copying  well  written  selections 
in  primary  grades  will  do  more  to  fix  correct  forms  of 
expression  than  the  study  of  text-book  grammar  in  the 
grammar  grades.  By  copying,  pupils  unconsciously 
learn  the  important  rules  for  the  use  of  punctuation 
marks  and  capital  letters.  They  also  learn  how  to 
divide  composition  into  paragraphs. 

Once  a  month  in  the  lower  grades  pupils  should  be 
required  to  commit  and  recite  a  choice  selection.  Such 
a  study  of  English  would  do  more  to  improve  a  pupil's 
speech  than  the  formal  recitation  of  grammatical  facts. 
It  would  also  store  his  mind  with  material  for  future 
use. 

An  occasional  exercise  in  correcting  faulty  forms  of 
expression  is  valuable,  notwithstanding  the  fashionable 
cry,  "  No  false  syntax."  The  correct  form  should  be 
substituted  for  the  incorrect  one  and  the  reason  given 
for  the  change. 


ARITHMETIC. 

ADDITION. 

The  importance  to  pupils  of  an  early  mastery  of  the 
fundamental  rules  is  sufficient  reason  for  illustrating  a 
method  of  teaching  them.  It  is  not  claimed  that  the 
method  here  given  is  the  only  one  or  that  it  is  the  best 
one.  No  one  has  the  only  way  of  presenting  a  subject 
to  children.  No  one  is  indispensable.  The  survival 
of  the  fittest  does  not  depend  upon  the  life  of  any  one. 
Ample  knowledge  of  the  subject,  interest,  and  earnest 
enthusiasm  will  usually  discover  the  best  method. 

Children  should  be  taught  to  name  the  sum  of  any 
two  numbers  at  sight.  There  is  no  more  excuse  for 
counting  numbers  together  than  there  is  for  spelling 
the  letters  of  a  syllable  together.  To  find  the  sum  of 
two  small  numbers  requires  but  one  mental  act. 

Only  forty-five  combinations  of  two  figures  each  can 
be  formed  with  the  nine  significant  digits;  only  seven- 
teen different  words  are  required  to  name  the  results. 
Twenty-five  of  the  forty-five  combinations  make  sums 
of  ten  or  less.  When  the  combinations  are  learned  the 
mind  recognizes  them  as  different  forms  of  numbers 
without  regard  to  the  figures  themselves.  Pupils 
should  be  so  familiar  with  the  forty-five  combinations 
that  the  sum  of  two  numbers  is  seen  as  quickly  as  the 
number  itself. 

The  following  are  the  forty-five  combinations.     Each 
group  contains  all  the  combinations  of  two  figures  each 
which  make  a  given  number: 
63 


64  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

1;  1;  1  2;   1  2;  1  2  3;  1  3  2;   1  2  3  4;  1  2  3  4;  1  2  3  4  5; 

1;  2;  3  2;  4  3;  5  4  3;  6  4  5;   7  6  5  4;  8  7  6  5;  9  8  7  6  5; 

2  3  4  5;  3  4  5  6;  4  5  6;  5  6  7;  6  7;  7  8;  8;  9; 

9  8  7  6;  9  8  7  6;  9  8  7;  9  8  7;  9  8;  9  8;  9;  9. 

In  adding  exercises,  arrange  the  numbers  in  columns 
— never  in  horizontal  rows.  Habituate  pupils  to  busi- 
ness forms  and  methods.  In  teaching  pupils  the  funda- 
mental rules  the  most  exacting  methods  should  be  used, 
or  bad  habits  will  be  formed  instead  of  good  ones. 

A  pupil  should  add  a  column  of  figures  as  rapidly  as 
he  can  name  the  sum  of  two  figures — as  rapidly  as  he 
can  call  the  names  of  the  mental  pictures  which  repre- 

4 
sent  the  sum  of  two  numbers.     When  a  pupil  sees  5 

'5  5       6 

or  4  he  should  see  9 ;  when  he  sees  6  or  5  he  should  see 

9       8 
11 ;  when  he  sees  8  or  9  he  should  see  17.     Pupils  should 
not  hesitate  in  adding  numbers.     They   should  see  the 
sum  of  two  numbers  as  readily  and  as  correctly  as  the 
name  of  a  word  of  two  letters  in  reading. 

If  the  sum  exceeds  10,  the  right-hand  digit  is  the 

5       4 
same  as  when  the  sum  is  less  than  10.     Thus  4  or  5  is 

15     14  5       6  15     16 

9;  4  or  5  is  19  (9);  6  or  5  is  11;  6  or  5  is  21  (1.)  That 
is,  the  right  digit  is  the  same  for  combinations  greater 
than  ten  as  for  those  less  than  ten;  hence  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  drill  on  combinations  of  more  than  two  figures. 
The  sums  of  the  forty-five  combinations  give  all  the 
results  so  far  as  the  right-hand  figures  are  concerned. 
The  general  fact  is  established  in  these  forty-five  indi- 
vidual facts. 


ARITHMETIC.  65 

As  it  is  often  necessary  to  change  methods  in  the 
lower  grades  to  keep  up  interest,  I  submit  another 
method.  Write  nine  2's  in  a  horizontal  line;  under 
them,  without  reference  to  their  natural  order,  write 
the  nine  significant  digits — then  reverse  the  order  by 
writing  the  2's  under  the  nine  digits,  promiscuously 
aranged.     Thus  222222222  245783916 

245784916  222222222 

Treat  each  of  the  digits  in  a  similar  manner.  Then 
drill,  drill,  drill,  drill.  See  that  the  pupil  names  the 
sums  as  rapidly  as  you  can  point  to  the  combinations, 
and  see  that  you  move  the  pointer  rapidly  and  with 
purpose.  Allow  110  time  to  count  the  numbers  together. 
Skip  about  in  pointing;  compel  ready  and  correct  re- 
sults; never  do  anything  by  rote  or  mechanically.  Do 
not  allow  pupils  to  name  the  digits — only  the  sum. 
444444444  245736819 

245736819  444444444  is   read  6,    8, 

9,  11,  7,  10,  12,  5,  13.  Require  the  dullest  pupils  to 
recite  the  whole  exercise  occasionally  and  make  it  a 
point  to  reach  them  every  day. 

SUBTRACTION. 

Subtraction  is  simple  when  addition  is  mastered. 
Subtraction  finds  what  number  added  to  the  smaller  of 
two  numbers  makes  the  larger.  That  is,  finding  the 
difference  between  two  numbers  is  finding  the  wanting 
part  of  the  sum  of  two  numbers  when  one  number  is 
given.  The  minuend  is  the  sum  of  two  numbers,  the 
subtrahend  is  one  of  the  numbers,  and  the  wanting  part 
is  the  difference.  Subtraction  is  thinking  to  the  smaller 
number  a  number  which  makes  it  equal  to  the  larger 
number. 


66  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

When  a  pupil  knows  the  forty-five  combinations,  he 
sees  at  a  glance  the  number  which  added  to  the  smaller 
number  makes  the  larger  one.  The  mind  almost 
unconsciously  calls  up  the  wanting  part  of  the  combi- 
nation which  makes  the  larger  number.  So  strong  is 
the  law  of  association  that  to  know  addition  thoroughly 
is  to  know  subtraction  also. 

As  practice  fixes  principles  and  habits/  drill  in  read- 
ing differences  is  necessary  to  fix  the  principles  of  sub- 
traction. Much  drill  in  abstract  numbers  in  the  lower 
grades  is  necessary  to  relieve  the  higher  grades  of  the 
blundering  hesitancy  so  often  seen  in  the  merely 
mechanical  work  of  solving  problems. 

Illustration:     Find  the  difference  between  8  and 
8  5 

5,  written  5.     One  of  the  forms  of  8  is  3;  as  5  is  given, 
the  other  part  is  3.     Find  the  difference  between  18 

18  13 

and  5,  written    5.     One  of  the  forms  of  18  is    5;  as    5 
is   given,    the    other  part    is  13.     Find  the  difference 

23 
between  28  and  5.     One  of  the  forms  of  28  is    5;  as    5 
is  given,  the  other  part  is  23.     In  each  case  5  from  8 
leaves  3. 

That  is,  the  right-hand  digit  in  the  difference  is  the 
same  for  numbers  above  ten  as  for  numbers  below  ten. 

13 
Find  the  difference  between  13  and  9,  written    9.      One 

9 
of  the  forms  or  13  is  4;  as  9  is  given,  4  is  the  wanting 
number  or  difference.     Find  the  difference  between  23 

23  14 

and  9,  written    9.     One  of  the  forms  of  23  is    9;    as   9 


ARITHMETIC.  67 

is  given,  the  other  part  of  the  combination  is  14.  That 
is,  9  from  13  leaves  4;  9  from  23  leaves  14  (4);  9  from 
33  leaves  24  (4). 

Write  the  nine  significant  figures  and  then  under 
them  write  nine  l's.  Require  pupils  to  name  the  dif- 
ferences as  rapidly  as  you  can  point  from  figure  to  figure. 
Do  not  permit  pupils  to  hesitate.  Your  habits  soon 
become  the  habits  of  the  class. 

132586749  367  945 

111111111    again   3  3  3  3  3  3 

The  pupils  read  0  2  1  4  7  5  6  3  8  0  3  4  6  12 

Treat  each  digit  in  a  similar  manner,  dropping  the 
figure  or  figures  in  the  minuend  to  keep  the  figure 
treated  always  less  than  the  one  directly  above  it. 
Practice  reading  differences  until  great  proficiency  is 
acquired. 

Why  ten  is  added  to  the  minuend  and  only  one  to  the 
next  figure  in  the  subtrahend  is  easily  explained.  Busi- 
ness men  always  use  this  method.  There  is  no  reason 
why  business  methods  should  not  have  the  preference 
over  mere  pedagogical  methods. 

A  little  spirited  drill  in  reading  differences  where 
some  figures  in  the  subtrahend  are  greater  than  those 
in  the  minuend  will  enable  pupils  to  read  the  results  as 
quickly  and  correctly  as  when  the  subtrahend  is  uni- 
formly smaller. 

MULTIPLICATION. 

Find  the  definition  of  Multiplication  in  an  explana- 
tory talk.  Find  all  the  new  terms  in  the  subject  in  the 
same  way. 

Teach  that  Multiplication  is  a  form  of  addition — that 
the  multiplier  shows  how  many  times  the  multiplicand 


68  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

is  to  be  taken  or  repeated — that  the  multiplier  is  always 
an  abstract  number — that  we  cannot  repeat  a  number 
five  cents  or  five  yards  times,  but  five  times — that  the 
multiplicand  may  be  abstract  or  concrete — that  the 
product  is  the  same  as  the  multiplicand  because  repeat- 
ing a  number  or  quantity  does  not  change  its  nature  or 
quality.  Thus,  5  units  taken  5  times  are  25  units — 5 
yards  taken  5  times  are  25  yards.  Make  these  element- 
ary facts  clear. 

Show  the  relations  between  the  multiplier,  multipli- 
cand, and  product — that  the  product  is  as  many  times 
the  multiplicand  as  the  multiplier  is  times  1,  or  is  such 
a  part  of  the  multiplicand  as  the  multiplier  is  part  of  1 — 
that  multiplying  by  a  multiplier  less  than  1  gives  a 
product  less  than  the  multiplicand — that  the  product 
bears  the  same  relation  to  the  multiplicand  that  the 
multiplier  bears  to  1.     Make  these  facts  clear. 

Illustrate  these  facts  upon  the  board — get  the  pupils 
to  thinking.  Be  in  no  hurry  to  solve  problems.  Pupils 
need  understanding  more  than  they  need  answers — 
inspiration  more  than  facts.  Cover  the  blackboard  with 
examples  and  have  them  solved  logically;  that  is, 
require  the  results  in  general  terms — the  value  of  the 
product  with  reference  to  the  multiplicand — whether  it 
is  abstract  or  concrete — equal  to,  greater,  or  less  than 
the  multiplicand,  and  give  the  reason  in  each  case. 
With  the  statement  and  the  result  in  general  terms  the 
thinking  ends.  The  formal  act  of  multiplying  adds 
nothing  of  value  after  the  mechanical  part  is  learned. 
Pupils  do  not  solve  problems  to  learn  to  "  cipher, "  but 
cipher  when  necessary  to  solve  problems.  Much  think- 
ing is  better  than  much  ciphering. 


ARITHMETIC.  69 

Illustration:  What  are  we  required  to  do  in  this 
problem?  What  kind  of  number  is  the  multiplicand 
and  why? — the  multiplier  and  why? — the  product  and 
why?  The  product  is  how  many  times  as  large  as  the 
multiplicand  and  why?  How  many  times  have  we 
used  the  multiplicand  as  an  addend? 

Multiply  8534  by  9.  Nine  times  4  units  are  3(5 
units,  or  3  tens  and  6  units.  Write  the  6  units  in  units' 
place  in  the  product,  and  add  the  3  tens  to  the  product 
of  tens.  Nine  times  3  tens  are  27  tens;  adding  the  2 
tens  we  have  29  tens  or  2  hundreds  and  9  tens.  Write 
the  9  tens  in  tens'  place  of  the  product  and  add  the  2 
hundreds  to  the  product  of  hundreds.  Nine  times  5 
hundreds  are  forty-five  hundreds;  adding  the  2  hundreds 
we  have  forty-seven  hundreds  or  4  thousands  and  7 
hundreds.  Write  the  7  hundreds  in  hundreds'  place 
and  add  the  4  thousands  to  the  product  of  thousands. 
Nine  times  8  thousands  are  72  thousands;  adding  the  4 
thousands  we  have  76  thousands.  Write  the  6  in  thou- 
sands' place  and  the  7  in  the  ten  thousand's  place. 

What  is  the  cost  of  436  yards  of  cloth  at  4  dollars  per 
yard?  What  are  we  required  to  do  in  this  problem? 
What  is  the  cost  of  one  yard?  What  is  the  cost  of  436 
yards?  What  kind  of  number  is  the  multiplicand  and 
why — the  product  and  why? — the  multiplier  and  why? 
Explain  why  we  sometimes  multiply  by  the  multipli- 
cand. See  that  this  convenience  is  understood.  Illus- 
trate, illustrate,  illustrate.  The  blackboard  should  be 
the  joint  property  of  teacher  and  pupil. 

Require  each  pupil  of  the  class  to  explain  the  princi- 
ples fully — -to  define  and  illustrate  the  terms  used,  the 
result  obtained,  and  the  reason  for  it.     Accept  no  apolo- 


70  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

gies.  When  a  child  is  old  enough  to  go  to  school,  he 
is  old  enough  to  exhibit  himself.  It  is  your  business 
to  see  that  the  exhibition  is  a  success.  You  cannot  do 
a  pupil  a  greater  favor  than  to  make  him  feel  that  he  is 
responsible.  Get  pupils  to  thinking — that  is  what  they 
go  to  school  to  do. 

DIVISION. 

Find  the  definition  of  Division  in  an  explanatory 
exercise — teach  that  one  number  is  contained  in 
another  as  many  times  as  it  can  be  taken  from  the 
other — that  division  is  a  sort  of  subtraction — that  one 
number  cannot  contain  another  dollar  times,  but  merely 
times — that  the  remainder  is  the  undivided  part  of  the 
dividend,  hence  it  is  like  it. 

Teach  the  relations  between  the  divisor  and  the  quo- 
tient— that  the  size  of  the  quotient  depends  upon  the 
size  of  the  divisor  with  reference  to  1.  Teach  that  all 
numbers  are  derived  from  1  and  that  1  measures  all 
numbers. 

As  in  multiplication,  cover  the  blackboard  with  ex- 
amples and  require  the  answers  in  general  terms — that 
is,  the  value  of  the  quotient  as  regards  unity  and  why. 
Continue  the  exercise  until  pupils  understand  the  prin- 
ciples of  division.  "  If  principles  are  understood,  rules 
are  useless.' ' 

Illustration:  Divide  8534  by  9.  There  are  9 
nines  in  85  with  a  remainder  of  4.  As  the  85  is  hun- 
dreds, the  quotient  and  remainder  are  hundreds.  The 
remainder,  4  hundred  =  40  ten;  40  tens  plus  3  tens  — 
43  tens.  There  are  4  nines  in  43,  with  a  remainder  of 
7.  As  the  43  is  tens,  the  quotient  and  remainder  are 
tens.     7  tens  =  70  units.     70  units  plus  4  units  —  74 


ARITHMETIC.  71 

units.  There  are  8  nines  in  74  with  a  remainder  of  2. 
As  the  74  is  units,  the  quotient  and  remainder  are 
units;  hence,  8534  divided  by  9  ==  948  2-9.  When  all 
the  work  is  written,  the  operation  is  called  long  di- 
vision. Show  that  the  reasoning  in  long  division  is 
precisely  the  same  as  in  short  division. 

Pupils  should  be  made  so  familiar  with  the  mechan- 
ical work  of  arithmetic  that  adding,  subtracting,  multi- 
plying, dividing  will  be  automatic — done  without 
much  conscious  mental  effort.  If  pupils  are  permitted 
to  pass  over  the  ground  rules  in  an  indefinite,  slip-shod 
manner,  the  probability  is  that  they  will  always  blunder 
in  the  purely  mechanical  work  of  arithmetic.  It  is  a 
sad  sight  to  see  pupils  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
grades  hesitating  and  guessing  in  the  mechanical  part 
of  their  work  in  arithmetic.  It  is  a  sad  commentary 
upon  their  first  teachers. 

During  the  first  four  years  of  the  child's  school  life, 
his  work  in  number  should  be  quite  evenly  divided 
between  the  concrete  and  the  abstract.  During  the 
first  and  second  years,  number  facts  should  be  exhibited 
through  means  of  visible  objects.  Pupils  should  per- 
ceive the  elementary  facts  of  number  through  the  sense 
of  sight.  The  numeral  frame  is  valuable  in  the  hands 
of  a  teacher  who  knows  how  to  use  it.  The  fractions 
h  h  i>  h  ii  +  >  i>  ij  ~ro  should  be  made  from  visible, 
or  tangible  objects. 

Pupils  should  be  thoroughly  drilled  in  adding,  sub- 
tracting, multiplying,  and  dividing  small  fractions- 
fractions  containing  but  one  figure  in  each  of  their  terms. 
In  each  example  the  process  should  be  fully  and  clearly 
stated  and  the  reason  for  each  step  concisely  expressed. 


72  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

For  such  drills,  the  blackboard  should  be  covered  with 
examples  to  be  solved  orally  without  the  use  of  chalk  or 
pencil.  The  teacher  and  the  blackboard  are  more 
inspiring  and  helpful  than  a  book  and  a  rule.  Every 
problem  in  arithmetic  which  can  be  solved  without  the 
use  of  slate  or  blackboard  should  be  so  solved.  Too 
much  ciphering  has  ruined  thousands  of  pupils. 
Ciphering,  when  not  required  to  hold  together  long 
results,  relieves  the  mind  of  what  it  should  retain  to 
train  it. 

In  the  analysis  of  examples  in  arithmetic,  oral  and 
written,  pupils  should  not  re-read  the  example  nor  con- 
clude the  explanation  with  the  stereotyped  c '  There- 
fore." Arithmetical  problems  are  only  means  to  an 
end.  The  end  is  a  logical  statement  of  the  several  suc- 
cessive steps  in  the  solution  of  a  problem.  No  other 
subject  offers  a  better  opportunity  to  train  pupils  in  the 
use  of  concise  and  clean  English  than  arithmetic. 
Every  clean,  concise  statement  of  the  steps  in  the  solu- 
tion of  a  problem  in  arithmetic  is  worth  several  lessons 
in  text-book  grammar.  Require  a  pupil  to  try  again 
and  again  until  he  succeeds  in  making  clean  statements. 

In  percentage,  pupils  should  not  be  permitted  to 
become  machines  through  the  use  of  the  terms  Base, 
Rate,  Percentage.  A  knowledge  of  the  principles  of 
percentage  is  best  acquired  by  a  mastery  of  simple  prob- 
lems. The  nature  of  the  subject  is  best  seen  in  problems 
such  as  are  found  in  actual  business,  not  in  the  puzzles 
of  the  "  Complete  Arithmetics. n  The  common,  frac- 
tional forms  of  expressing  percent  are  simpler  than  the 
decimal  expressions  and  should  be  used  whenever  pos- 
sible.    Pupils  do  not  go  to  school  to  solve  puzzles  and 


ARITHMETIC.  73 

improbable  examples,  but  to  master  principles.  The 
pupil's  need  is  self-reliance,  not  direction;  knowledge, 
not  learning. 

Teacher,  supplement  your  daily  grist  of  examples 
in  arithmetic  with  problems  selected  from  books  not  in 
use  in  the  school.  Teach  your  pupils  to  rely  upon 
themselves,  not  upon  rules  and  answers.  The  prob- 
lems should  be  selected  with  special  reference  to  prin- 
ciples, hence  should  be  made  a  test  of  what  pupils 
really  know.  Such  "  out-side  work  "  may  be  made  a 
daily  or  weekly  examination  without  any  of  the  scenes 
which  usually  accompany  formal  examinations. 

In  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division 
of  fractions  teachers  should  ignore  all  examples  which 
were  made  merely  to  test  a  pupil's  ability  to  cipher — 
to  get  answers.  If  a  pupil  is  skilled  in  getting  answers 
to  examples  which  carry  with  them  no  meaning — but 
merely  the  observance  of  certain  rules,  he  is  not  trained 
by  his  ciphering.  In  fractions  omit  all  examples  con- 
taining more  than  one  or  two  figures  in  either  of  their 
terms.  In  business  it  is  seldom  we  have  use  for  a  frac- 
tion which  contains  more  than  one  figure  in  numerator 
or  denominator. 

In  decimal  fractions  strike  out  all  examples  which 
contain  more  than  three  decimal  places.  In  business 
calculations  three  decimal  places  include  mills. 

In  finding  the  G.  C.  D.  and  the  Iy.  C.  M.,  ignore  all 
examples  which  contain  more  than  two  figures  in  one 
number. 

In  short,  if  "  Complete,"  and  "  High  School  Arith- 
metics" must  still  be  used  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
elements  of  the  natural  sciences,  omit  the  last  half  of 


74  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

each  chapter  or  set  of  examples,  and  drill  the  pupils 
upon  those  problems  which  clearly  exhibit  principles. 
Ciphering  for  answers  under  rules  does  not  develop 
reason  nor  self-relrance. 

The  simpler  problems  in  the  elementary  and  prac- 
tical arithmetics  should  be  solved  orally — that  is,  with- 
out the  use  of  slate  or  blackboard.  The  most  exacting 
and  concise  solutions  should  be  required,  and  no  others 
accepted.  Require  a  pupil  to  revise  his  solution,  again, 
and  again,  and  again,  until  he  finds  clean  and  concise 
statements. 

Arithmetical  monstrosities  are  common  sights  in  all 
of  the  traditional  "  Complete  Arithmetics." 

Specimen  Monstrosities.  "  Find  the  greatest 
common  divisor  of:  1273,  2077,  4087:  of  2279,  3233, 
4399:  of  1827,  3906,  4599." 

"Find  the  least  common  multiple  of:  72,  84,  108, 
144:  of  63,  105,  147,  231." 

"Find   the  sum  of:   19£f,  W,  &H,  8tL     Find  the 

product  of:  (8f+  7f)  (*+  A)  of:  (17*4-I3i)  (8f+*).» 

.    ,.         J   8fXl0jXl7j 
"  Perform  the  operations  indicated:  = 

J-0"3   X    J-'*-g-  X  O  }  q 

One  more,  that  the  picture  may  be  more  distinctly 

fixed. 

12H-7^+32| 
"Find  the  sum  of:     ^m  +  Z*C 

Why  should  any  good-natured  pupil  be  given  such 
tasks? 

"Write  from  dictation  and  read:  3.27806594;  3.0303- 
0303;  25.0000056. 

"  Express  decimally  and  read:    7001    and    3270065 

100000  100000000. 


ARITHMETIC.  75 

Many  of  the  examples  in  addition,  subtraction,  multi- 
plication, and  division  of  decimals  are  of  the  same  silly 
character.  There  is  nothing  more  symmetrical  and 
uniform  than  tradition  and  habit.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  in  business  calculations  not  one  man  in  ten  thou- 
sand ever  requires  greater  accuracy  than  is  found  in 
two  or  three  decimal  places. 

In  the  treatment  of  denominate  numbers  and  percent- 
age, the  "Complete  Arithmetics"  abound  in  the  per- 
plexing and  the  worthless.  The  apologists  claim  that 
the  useless  is  valuable  for  drill — that  pupils  must  run 
such  monstrosities  into  holes  on  account  of  the  disci- 
plinary value  of  the  chase.  The  end  of  such  folly  and 
trespass  upon  the  rights  of  children  is  clearly  in  sight. 
Within  the  next  ten  years  there  will  come  to  most 
pupils  pleasanter  school  tasks  than  those  furnished  by 
the  u  Complete  Arithmetics  "  of  to-day. 

In  most  schools  there  is  too  much  arithmetic.  No 
properly  adjusted  program  can  find  time  for  two  les- 
sons a  day  in  arithmetic — one  mental,  the  other  writ- 
ten. For  many  years  the  leading  educators  have 
expressed  the  conviction  that  the  grammar  school 
course  should  be  both  shortened  and  enriched;  that 
much  might  be  left  out  of  the  course,  not  only  without 
loss,  but  with  positive  gain,  and  that  much  might  be 
put  into  it  which  would  make  it  a  far  more  adequate 
preparation  for  the  high  school,  or  for  life  without  the 
high  school  course. 

Teacher,  train  your  pupils  to  solve  arithmetical  prob- 
lems by  brief  and  intelligent  methods  and  keep  them 
free  from  set  rules  and  formulas.  Mechanical  processes, 
routine  methods,  and  set  rules  end  in  mere  belief — a 


76  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

cheap  and  unreliable  state  indeed.  What  a  pupil  does 
in  arithmetic,  he  should  do  consciously,  not  mechanic- 
ally. Memory  or  rule  arithmetic  always  fails  when 
needed.  Principles  should  be  inductively  developed  in 
the  class  and  then  consciously  applied  by  the  pupils  to 
the  solution  of  the  text-book  problems.  Pupils  should 
be  trained  to  see  that  the  first  step  in  the  solution  of  a 
problem  in  arithmetic  is  to  determine  what  is  required, 
and  that  the  second  step  is  to  state  the  different  steps 
in  their  logical  order  in  correct,  concise  language. 
Training  in  the  use  of  clear,  clean  language  should  be 
a  feature  of  every  recitation  in  arithmetic. 

Now  I  would  not  have  this  arithmetical  pebble  mis- 
understood. Arithmetic  is  a  very  important  school 
subject.  It  has  both  a  practical  and  a  disciplinary 
value.  Who  will  question  the  practical  value  of  a 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  arithmetic?  Who  will 
question  the  disciplinary  value  of  the  study  when  it  is 
properly  taught?  Arithmetic  correctly  taught  is  the 
very  essence  of  intellectual  training.  It  should  teach 
pupils  accuracy  of  statement  and  conciseness  of  expres- 
sion. The  study  of  arithmetic  should  train  pupils  to 
think  correctly  and  courageously.  Accuracy  in  reason- 
ing depends  upon  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  princi- 
ples involved;  accuracy  of  statement  depends  upon  the 
constant  alertness  of  the  pupil  and  the  constant  surveil- 
lance of  the  teacher. 


GEOGRAPHY. 


First  Steps. — Introduce  this  subject  to  pupils  in  a 
simple  talk  about  the  earth.  Tell  them  that  in  shape 
the  earth  is  like  a  ball  or  globe  —  that  the  outside  of 
the  earth  is  called  the  surface  of  the  earth — that  the 
outside  of  anything  is  the  surface  of  that  thing. 

Tell  them  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  composed 
of  land  and  water — that  there  is  more  water  than  land. 
Take  a  small  globe  and  show  the  pupils  that  only  one- 
fourth  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  land — that  three- 
fourths  are  water. 

Tell  them  about  the  size  of  the  earth — why  it  ap- 
pears flat  —  give  easy  proofs  that  it  is  round' — get  near 
the  pupils  in  simplicity  of  statement  and  illustration. 
Use  the  imagination  of  your  pupils  before  you  tax  their 
memories. 

Appeal  to  their  curiosity.  If  possible  — and  it  is 
possible  —  get  them  to  see  the  earth,  mentally,  swing- 
ing in  the  air;  to  see  that  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  are 
all  large  bodies  floating  in  the  air.  Help  the  pupils  to 
create  mental  pictures  of  the  earth  and  its  relations  to 
the  other  great  planets.  Pictures  of  all  kinds  please 
children,  mere  facts  do  not. 

Fix  definitely  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass,  by  calling  attention  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  sun  at  noon.  Show  them  that  when  we 
face  the  sun  at  noon,  we  look  south,  that  our  backs  are 
toward  the  north,  our  left  hands  toward  the  east,  our 
right  hands  toward  the  west. 

77 


78  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

Develop  clearly  concepts  inch,  foot,  yard.  De- 
velop clearly  the  concept  mile  —  use  this  concept  in 
teaching  the  larger  units  of  distance.  Be  sure  that 
pupils  clearly  understand  the  unit  of  distance,  and  how 
to  apply  it  iii  interpreting  maps. 

Require  the  pupils  to  draw  a  map  of  the  schoolroom 
floor  and  locate  the  principal  articles  of  furniture  in 
the  room.  Require  the  pupils  to  draw  a  map  of  the 
school  yard  and  locate  the  objects  in  the  yard. 

See  that  the  pupils  understand  that  maps  are  drawn 
on  various  scales.  Require  them  to  interpret  the  maps 
of  the  school  room  and  school  yard  on  various  scales. 
Show  them  that  one  inch  on  a  map  may  represent  one 
mile,  one  hundred  miles,  or  even  one  thousand  miles  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth. 

When  these  introductory  and  fundamental  facts  are 
clearly  understood  by  the  pupils,  give  them  text-books 
— not  before  then.  Give  them  yourself  before  you  give 
them  a  geography. 

Home  First.  —  Pupils  should  devote  more  time  to 
the  geography  of  our  own  country  than  they  have  been 
doing  in  the  past,  and  less  to  that  of  foreign  countries. 
The  geography  of  Africa  and  Australia  should  be 
studied  only  in  a  general  way — only  as  wholes.  The 
small  political  divisions  of  europe,  south 
America,  and  Asia  should  be  entirely  omitted. 

Descriptive  geography  furnishes  ample  opportunity 
for  the  teacher  to  train  his  pupils  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage, oral  and  written.  Every  important  geographical 
fact  should  be  described  orally  in  the  class  recitation, 
and  afterwards  reproduced  in  the  form  of  composition. 
Written  descriptions  deepen  the  images,  and  give  them 


GEOGRAPHY.  79 

greater  symmetry  of  form  than  oral  descriptions.  See 
that  every  important  fact  is  correctly  described  in 
concise  and  clean  English. 

Supplement  the  present  catechism  geography  with 
geographical  readers  and  books  of  travel.  It  is  believed 
that  "catechism  geography"  has  about  had  its  day. 
Fully  three-fourths  of  the  time  now  spent  in  stuffing 
unrelated,  geographical  facts  into  the  heads  of  pupils  is 
wasted.  A  mere  accumulation  of  facts  is  not  knowl- 
edge. Facts  should  be  associated  with  thoughts,  feel- 
ings, and  experiences.  The  facts  of  the  traditional 
catechism  geography  are  so  dryly  stated  that  pupils 
are  not  interested  in  collecting  and  reciting  them — a 
compliment  to  human  nature. 

Elementary  Course. — Geography  should  be  stud- 
ied from  topical  outlines,  placed  on  the  blackboard 
daily  by  the  teacher.  In  this  way  and  in  this  way  only, 
can  the  teacher  separate  the  useful  from  the  useless  in 
this  study.  The  following  outline  suggests  topics  for 
the  fifth  and  sixth  grades,  or  fifth  and  sixth  years. 

Map  of  the  county,  with  location  of  the  county  seat, 
and  principal  towns  and  riveis.  Map  of  the  State,  with 
location  of  capital  and  five  of  the  largest  cities,  and 
three  of  the  largest  rivers. 

Map  of  the  United  States,  with  boundaries;  location 
of  the  Appalachian,  Rocky,  and  Sierra  Nevada  moun- 
tains; the  great  lakes;  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi 
rivers;  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Washington,  Boston, 
St.  Iyouis,  Chicago,  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco. 

Map  of  North  America,  with  boundaries;  political 
divisions;  location  of  the  Rocky  and  Appalachian  moun- 
tains; Capes  Prince  of  Wales,  Race,  Sable,  Sanl^ucas; 


80  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

Bering  Strait;  Gulfs  of  Mexico  and  St.  Lawrence;  Hud- 
son Bay;  Caribbean  sea;  Mississippi,  Mackenzie,  and 
St.  Lawrence  rivers. 

Map  of  South  America,  with  boundaries;  location  of 
the  Amazon,  Orinoco,  and  La  Plata  rivers;  Andes 
mountains;  Isthmus  of  Panama;  Rio  Janeiro,  Pampas, 
Selvas,  Llanos;  definition  of  latitude,  equator. 

Map  of  Europe,  with  boundaries;  location  of  British 
Isles,  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Russia; 
Strait  of  Gibraltar;  Mediterranean,  Black,  and  Caspian 
seas;  Thames,  Seine,  Rhine,  Danube,  and  Volga  rivers; 
Alps  mountains;  definition  of  longitude. 

Map  of  Asia,  with  boundaries;  location  of  Siberia, 
China,  Japan,  India,  Turkey;  Himalaya  mountains; 
Obi,  Lena,  Yenisei,  Yang-tse-Kiang,  and  Ganges  rivers; 
Peking,  Calcutta,  Jerusalem. 

Map  of  Africa,  with  boundaries;  location  of  Egypt, 
Sahara;  Nile,  Niger  and  Congo  rivers;  Isthmus  of 
Suez;  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Maps  for  use  rather  than  to  dazzle  the  eye. 

Advanced  Course.  — General  outline  for  the  seventh 
and  eighth  grades,  or  seventh  and  eighth  years. 

United  States.  Population;  outline  and  boundaries; 
principal  coast  waters;  principal  ranges  of  each  moun- 
tain system  and  chief  mountain  peaks. 

North  America.  The  Arctic  regions,  Newfoundland, 
West  Indies,  Mexico.  Outline  and  boundaries;  largest 
coast  waters;  zones.  Natural  divisions;  mountain  sys- 
tems, with  highest  peak  of  each;  the  great  lakes,  with 
their  connections;  description  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Mis- 
sissippi, Rio  Grande,  Colorado,  Columbia,  Yukon,  and 
Mackenzie  rivers.     Location  of  the  important  islands, 


GEOGRAPHY.  81 

the  Bermudas,  Bahamas,  the  greater  Antiles.  The 
most  northern,  eastern,  southern,  and  western  capes. 
Countries:  form  of  government  and  capital  of  each. 
Location  of  twenty  leading  cities. 

South  America.  Important  countries,  Brazil,  Chili, 
Argentine  Republic;  shape,  outline,  memory  map. 

Europe.  Important  countries,  Great  Britain,  France, 
Germany,  Russia,  Austria,  Spain,  Italy.  Outline  and 
boundaries,  coast  waters,  capes,  islands,  natural  divis- 
ions of  surface;  principal  mountain  systems;  high- 
est peak,  with  height.  Principal  rivers.  Countries, 
with  form  of  government  and  capital  of  each.  Twenty 
leading  cities,  their  location,  and  one  important  fact 
connected  with  each.  Ten  exports,  with  the  names  of 
the  countries  from  which  they  are  sent.  Distinction 
between  England,  Great  Britain,  British  Isles,  British 
Empire.     Memory  maps  of  the  grand  divisions. 

Asia.  Physical  and  political  geography  of  the  impor- 
tant countries,  Japan,  China,  India,  Siberia,  Arabia. 

Africa.  Important  countries,  Egypt,  Cape  Colony, 
Congo  State,  Sahara,  Soudan. 

Australia.  Studied  as  a  whole.  Oceanica,  East 
Indies,  New  Guinea,  New  Zealand,  Hawaii,  Society 
Islands,  Feejee,  Samoa. 

Memory  maps  of  the  grand  divisions. 

The  formal  study  of  catechism  geography  in  the  fifth 
and  sixth  grades  should  be  preceded  by  the  study  of 
easy  books  of  travel,  or  geographical  readers. 

Some  books  for  reading  and  reference  in  fifth  and 
sixth  grades: 

'  '  Our  Own  Country  " ;  "  Our  American  Neighbors ' ' ; 
"Our  World,  No.  1";  "The  Rocky  Mountains"; 
"  Travels  in  Mexico  ";   "  Stories  of  England". 


82  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

Some  books  for  reading  and  reference  in  seventh  and 
eighth  grades: 

' 'The  Earth  and  its  Inhabitants";  u  Bird's-eye 
View  of  the  World  » ;  "  By  Land  and  Sea  " ;  "  Old  and 
New  Worlds  ";   "Around  and  About  South  America". 

Every  school  district  should  own  at  least  a  small 
reference  library  of  historical  and  geographical  text- 
books. 

Geography  should  be  an  inspiring  and  profitable  study. 
Properly  taught,  it  is  the  best  common  school  study  for 
training  the  imagination.  It  should  be  taught  princi- 
pally by  means  of  descriptive  texts,  imaginary  journeys, 
books  of  travel,  and  relief  maps.  The  mere  recitation 
of  unrelated  geographical  facts  has  little  or  no  meaning. 
Pupils  may  recite  facts  without  acquiring  knowledge. 
Mere  recitation  is  not  significant.  Recitations  which  do 
not  have  in  view  definite  results  are  almost  valueless. 
The  recitation  should  create  ideals  and  be  characterized 
by  energy,  purpose,  and  feeling  on  the  part  of  both  the 
teacher  and  the  pupils.  Geography,  if  properly  taught, 
trains  pupils  to  create  mental  pictures  of  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  The  study  should  train  the  pupil  to  see 
oceans,  lakes,  rivers,  hills,  mountains,  villages,  cities, 
railroads,  etc.  Through  the  help  of  the  imagination  the 
lines,  and  marks,  and  dots  on  the  maps,  should  become 
real  representations.  The  pupil's  imagination  should 
give  meaning  and  life  to  the  picture  map  before  him. 


HISTORY. 

Treat  only  the  great  events.  Only  the  essential  facts 
should  be  dwelt  upon — those  events  which  constitute 
indispensible  land  marks.  Fully  nine-tenths  of  the 
events,  names,  and  dates  found  in  most  of  our  common 
school  histories  should  be  omitted. 

In  the  treatment  of  war  periods,  stress  should  be  laid 
upon  causes  and  results  rather  than  upon  names  and 
dates.  It  matters  little  what  man  or  what  date,  but 
rather  what  cause  and  what  result.  History  is  not  con- 
cerned in  the  details  of  battles  nor  in  the  biography  of 
obscure  men. 

Teach  history  by  topics,  not  by  pages.  Forbid  the 
recitation  of  the  text.  Verbatim  recitation  of  the  text 
trains  a  pupil  to  distrust  himself.  From  the  beginning, 
require  the  essential  facts  stated  in  the  pupil's  own 
language.  Every  lesson  in  history  affords  an  opportu- 
nity to  train  pupils  in  the  use  of  correct  language. 

The  aim  in  teaching  history  is  character,  not  facts. 
A  knowledge  of  facts  is  valuable  only  when  it  ends  in 
correct  ideals.  The  proper  study  of  the  history  of  the 
United  States  is  a  study  of  ideal  lives — Washington, 
Franklin,  Lincoln.  The  study  of  the  history  of  the 
United  States  should  lead  pupils  to  love  the  government 
of  the  United  States. 

After  a  careful  study  of  a  chapter  from  a  topical  out- 
line, require  the  pupils  to  reproduce  the  topics  in 
writing.  Require  frequent  written  reviews.  Teaching 
should  be  real;  it  should  have  meaning;  it  should  yield 
results;  it  should  reach  the  heart  as  well  as  the  head. 
83 


84  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

No  text-book  is  needed  below  the  sixth  grade.  Bi- 
ography is  the  basis  of  history  and  is  more  interesting  to 
young  pupils  than  history  proper.  That  is,  the  history 
of  individuals  is  more  interesting  and  more  instructive 
to  young  pupils  than  the  history  of  a  whole  nation  of 
people.  The  biographies  of  Columbus,  Washington, 
Franklin,  and  Lincoln  should  be  read  during  the  fifth 
and  sixth  years  and  the  principal  events  of  their  lives 
reproduced  in  writing  in  the  pupil's  own  language. 
"The  Landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers",  and  "The 
Star-spangled  Banner"  should  be  learned  in  the  fifth 
and  sixth  grades. 

In  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  the  study  of 
the  ( '  Common  School  History  ' '  should  be  enlivened 
and  enriched  by  the  study  of  the  biographies  of  ideal 
Americans.  In  these  grades  "To  Thee,  O  Country  ", 
"  Hail  Columbia",  and  "  Paul  Revere 's  Ride  "  should 
be  committed  to  memory  and  recited  often.  A  taste  for 
biographical,  historical,  and  other  good  reading  should 
be  encouraged;  love  of  country  should  be  inspired  and 
developed  by  a  proper  interpretation  of  the  facts  of  its 
own  history. 

Use  only  enough  of  detail  to  create  interest.  Connect 
cause  and  effect.  Fix  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils  a 
knowledge  of  ideal  men  by  pointing  out  their  like  and 
unlike  traits  of  character.  Contrast  is  a  means  of  edu- 
cation. History  leans  upon  geography.  The  geogra- 
phy of  a  country  determines  the  kind  of  inhabitants 
it  has,  the  occupations  of  its  people,  hence  its  history. 
Events  in  history  should  be  associated  with  locality; 
fact  with  place. 


FOUNDATION  FACTS. 


INTRODUCTION.  In  the  hope  of  interesting  the 
young  teachers  who  may  read  this  book  in  the  study  of 
educational  psychology  and  correct  methods  of  instruc- 
tion, I  have  arranged  a  few  fundamental  facts  for  their 
consideration. 

As  attention  is  the  necessary  accompaniment  of  all 
conscious  mental  life,  and  determines  the  mind's 
capacity  to  acquire  knowledge,  I  place  it  first  in  a 
review  of  the  most  important  pedagogical  facts. 

The  psychologist  would,  no  doubt,  see  somewhat  of 
repetition  in  the  facts  given  below.  But  with  students 
the  same  fact,  concrete  or  abstract,  must  be  seen  from 
many  angles  and  in  many  forms  before  it  is  clearly 
comprehended.  The  essential  facts  of  psychology,  like 
the  great  facts  of  life,  are  few  and  simple,  but  are  best 
seen  in  many  different  forms. 

ATTENTION. 

Fact  I.  Attention  intensifies  a  mental  state.  Give 
an  illustration  of  this  psychological  fact. 

Fact  II.  Attention  determines  the  character  of  the 
percept.     Apply  this  fact  to  a  lesson  in  written  spelling. 

Fact  III.     Attention  determines  the  effect  of  mental 
pictures.     Give  three  illustrations — one  caused  by  emo- 
tions of  joy;  one,  by  emotions  of  pain;  one,  by  a  beau- 
tiful scene. 
85 


86  PEDAGOGICAL    PEBBLES. 

Fact  IV.  Perception  is  a  vivid  state  of  conscious- 
ness; memory,  a  faint  state  of  consciousness.  Show 
that  the  statement  is  true.   Apply  the  fact  to  instruction. 

Fact  V.  The  permanency  of  an  impression  depends 
upon  the  attitude  of  the  mind  when  it  was  first  per- 
ceived. Apply  this  fact  in  teaching  penmanship  and 
map-drawing. 

Fact  VI.  The  clearness  of  a  percept  is  inversely 
proportional  to  the  number  of  objects  simultaneously  in 
consciousness.  Show  the  general  application  of  this 
fact  to  instruction. 

Fact  VII.  The  mind  is  usually  conscious  of  more 
than  one  thing  at  a  time.  Give  two  schoolroom  illus- 
trations. 

Fact  VIII.  Attention  converts  vague,  indefinite 
impressions  into  clear  and  definite  impressions.  Give 
two  illustrations — one  concrete,  the  other  abstract. 

Fact  IX.  The  longer  the  mind  is  concentrated 
upon  a  single  thought  or  object,  without  weariness,  the 
clearer  the  thought  or  object  becomes.  Make  general 
application  of  this  fact  to  instruction. 

Fact  X.  The  more  intense  our  sensations,  ideas, 
and  feelings,  the  more  they  compel  attention.  Give 
three  illustrations — one  caused  by  physical  pain;  one, 
by  pity;  one,  by  joy. 

Fact  XI.  Voluntary  attention  is  the  selective  power 
of  the  mind.  Give  two  illustrations — one  involving  a 
choice  between  pleasure  and  duty;  the  other,  a  choice 
between  several  articles  of  merchandise. 

Fact  XII.  Voluntary  attention  is  the  result  of  train- 
ing.     It  is  application.     Voluntary  attention  usually 


FOUNDATION  FACTS.  87 

requires  freedom  from  disturbance — a  measure  of  soli- 
tude.    Apply  these  facts  to  the  government  of  a  school. 

Fact  XIII.  Without  attention  there  can  be  no  con- 
scious sensation;  hence  no  perception.  Give  three 
illustrations — one  involving  the  sense  of  sight;  one,  the 
sense  of  hearing;  one,  the  sense  of  taste. 

Fact  XIV.  Every  activity,  physical,  or  mental, 
results  in  a  tendency  to  repeat  the  same  act  or  similar 
acts  in  the  same  manner.  Give  three  illustrations  of 
the  nature  of  habit — one  in  primary  reading;  one  in 
"  position  ";  one  in  the  use  of  language. 

Fact  XV.  Every  mental  or  physical  act  tends  to 
increase  the  size  and  the  power  of  the  part  exercised. 
Give  three  illustrations — one  mental,  two  physical. 

Fact  XVI.  The  strength  of  a  habit  depends  on  its 
age  and  the  frequency  of  its  repetition.  Give  three 
illustrations — one  in  school  work,  one  in  business  life, 
one  in  society  life. 

Fact  XVII.  Habit  saves  time  and  effort.  Give  two 
illustrations — one  in  school  work,  one  in  business  life. 

Fact  XVIII.  Habit  is  automatic.  Give  two  illus- 
trations— one  mental,  one  physical. 

Fact  XIX.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  proceed 
from  the  concrete  to  the  abstract.  Give  two  illustra- 
tions— one  with  whole  numbers,  one  with  fractional 
numbers. 

Fact  XX.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  proceed 
from  individual  facts  to  general  facts.  Give  three  illus- 
trations— one  in  arithmetic,  one  in  grammar,  one  in 
natural  philosophy. 

Fact  XXI.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  recog- 
nize a  dependent  relation  among  school  studies.     Show 


8$  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  a  subject  assists  a  pupil 
in  studying  related  subjects.  Give  three  illustrations 
— one  in  primary  number,  one  in  advanced  arithmetic, 
one  in  grammar. 

Fact  XXII.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  use  the 
knowledge  which  a  pupil  has  already  acquired  in  help- 
ing him  to  acquire  new  knowledge.  Thus  perception 
aids  apperception.  Acquiring  knowledge  is  interpret- 
ing the  unknown  through  the  known.  All  we  learn 
makes  additional  learning  easier  by  offering  additional 
points  of  attachment.  Give  three  illustrations  of  the 
apperceptive  process — one  from  botany,  one  from  gram- 
mar, one  from  arithmetic. 

Fact  XXIII.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  require 
the  pupil  to  return  whatever  was  imparted  to  him. 
This  the  teacher  can  compel  the  pupil  to  do  only  by 
questioning  him.  Questioning  requires  a  pupil  to  give 
an  account  of  himself  to  the  teacher  as  well  as  to  his 
classmates.  Only  by  questioning  can  a  teacher  test  the 
knowledge  of  his  pupils.  Pupils  often  recite  quite  flip- 
pantly the  words  of  a  text-book  without  the  slightest  idea 
of  their  meaning  or  application.  Teachers  should  not 
assume  that  pupils  understand  what  they  recite  or  that 
they  can  illustrate  definitions  and  rules.  Teachers  should 
know  that  that  pupils  know.  Give  three  illustrations 
of  the  value  of  questioning — one  in  reading,  one  in 
grammar,  one  in  history. 

Fact  XXIV.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  begin 
or  close  a  recitation  with  review  questions.  Reviews 
deepen  impressions  and  awaken  associations  which  aid 
retention.  The  questioning  of  to-day  should  cover  the 
lessons  of  to-day  and  review  the  lessons  of  yesterday. 


FOUNDATION  FACTS.  89 

If  pupils  are  confronted  in  to-day's  lesson  with  review 
questions,  they  will  be  more  thorough  in  their  work. 
Question  only  in  regard  to  essential  facts  or  principles. 
Do  not  tire  and  discourage  pupils  with  questions  about 
detail.     Detail  usually  takes  care  of  itself. 

Fact  XXV.  Correct  methods  of  instruction  recog- 
nize the  psychological  fact  that  voluntary  attention 
depends  upon  interest.  It  is  a  well  established  peda- 
gogical fact  that  mere  iteration  diminishes  interest — 
that  interest  depends  upon  new  openings  for  thought. 
Bvery  competent  teacher  knows  that  when  a  pupil 
thoroughly  understands  a  principle  or  a  problem,  he 
immediately  loses  his  interest  in  it.  It  is  the  unknown 
that  keeps  humanity  awake.  Few  people  read  a  novel 
a  second  time.  When  a  child  is  tired  of  its  play- 
things, it  is  willing  to  give  them  away.  An  object  or 
a  study  interests  only  as  long  as  it  presents  new  phases 
to  the  mind.  Continued  mental  growth  without  new 
material  for  the  mind  to  work  upon  is  impossible.  Give 
three  illustrations — one  in  primary  reading,  one  in  pri- 
mary number  work,  one  in  history. 

METHOD.  Success  in  the  school  room  depends  upon 
three  things:  (1)  a  clear  idea  of  what  is  to  be  done; 
(2)  a  clear  idea  of  the  best  way  of  doing  it;  (3)  a  strong 
motive  for  doing  it  well.  Quality  measures  the  value 
of  instruction.  Quality  is  the  great  thing.  In  the 
successful  teacher  it  is  a  constant  thing.  A  teacher 
may  know  the  subjects  he  teaches  but  not  how  to  teach 
them.  He  may  not  know  how  to  use  them  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  mental  powers  which  the  study  of  the 
subjects  should  promote.  A  teacher  must  know  how 
the  mind  works  that  he  may  supply  it  with  the  kind  of 


9o  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

exercises  which  will  develop  and  strengthen  it.  He 
must  know  something  of  the  kind  of  effort  the  pupil 
must  put  forth  to  acquire  knowledge.  No  one  who 
blindly  copies  the  methods  of  another  can  ever  make  an 
inspiring  teacher.  Back  of  every  success  is  intelligent 
aim,  purpose,  courage,  and  enthusiasm.  A  machine 
teacher  does  not  carry  into  his  work  either  of  the  pri- 
mary elements  of  success.  The  teacher  who  does  not 
study  methods  as  well  as  text-books  must  always  remain 
a  copyist.  A  knowledge  of  correct  methods  is  as  neces- 
sary as  a  knowledge  of  the  subjects  taught.  A  desire 
for  learning  is  more  valuable  than  learning — one  is  a 
constant  source  of  pleasure  and  profit;  the  other  is  often 
transient  and  valueless.  The  mere  ability  to  peddle 
text-book  facts  does  not  require  a  high  degree  of  natural 
fitness  or  culture. 

When  the  principal  thing  about  a  teacher  is  purpose, 
he  is  greater  than  all  methods.  When  his  very  soul  is 
impacted  into  his  teaching,  he  is  indeed  a  moral  as 
well  as  an  intellectual  leader.  In  the  work  of  the 
school  the  essential  is  not  text-books,  nor  text-book 
facts,  but  earnest,  capable  men  and  women  teachers. 
The  real  influence  in  education  is  not  the  fact  taught, 
but  the  inspiration  which  accompanies  its  teaching. 
The  true  teacher  seeks  not  to  make  pupils  recite,  but 
to  make  them  think.  Thinking  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom.  There  is  little  or  no  moral  force  in  mere 
belief.  We  may  theorize  and  speculate  and  not  become 
either  better  or  wiser.  A  teacher  needs  the  power  to 
will  and  the  courage  to  do.  If  he  would  inspire  and 
direct,  he  must  act.  If  he  would  free  others,  he  must 
first  free  himself.  If  he  would  have  self-reliant  pupils, 
he  must  be  self-reliant. 


FOUNDATION  FACTS.  91 

HABIT.  In  the  work  of  the  teacher,  habit  stands 
next  in  importance  to  attention.  The  nature  of  habit 
may  be  seen  in  a  routine  life  or  in  the  life  of  a  man  of 
correct  business  methods.  The  degree  of  perfection 
which  habit  has  attained  may  be  seen  in  the  ease  with 
which  an  act  is  performed.  The  strength  of  a  habit 
may  be  seen  in  an  effort  to  dislodge  a  bad  habit  of  long 
standing.  The  fundamental  fact  of  habit  is  that  any 
kind  of  action,  mental  or  physical,  is  more  easily  and 
correctly  performed  after  many  repetitions.  We  acquire 
power  and  facility  in  action,  mental  or  physical,  only 
by  repetition. 

Habit  is  acquired  action.  u  Energy  follows  the  lines 
of  least  resistance.  Psychic  action  carves  out  physical 
channels  in  the  process  of  time  and  flows  into  them  as 
a  matter  of  course."  Habits  are  often  acquired  by  con- 
ditions in  our  surroundings  to  which  we  give  little  or 
no  thought.  They  fasten  themselves  upon  us  so  gradu- 
ally that  we  are  often  unaware  of  the  character  of  our 
acquisitions.  For  convenience  or  policy  we  adapt  our- 
selves to  our  environment  and  acquire  the  habits  of  our 
associates.  As  habit  tends  to  become  permanent,  it 
may  be  an  obstacle  in  the  formation  of  other  habits. 
The  greatest  obstacle  to  the  formation  of  correct  habits 
is  the  existence  of  incorrect  ones.  Schools  cannot  edu- 
cate children,  but  they  should  establish  them  in  correct 
habits  of  study — habits  which  may  lead  to  great  accom- 
plishments in  after  life.  The  sum  of  one's  habits  is 
character,  and  character  is  destiny. 

Teachers  should  ever  bear  in  mind  that  one  lesson  in 
good  habits  is  worth  more  to  a  pupil  than  three  lessons 
in  rule  arithmetic,  five  in  catechism  geography,  or  ten 


92  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

in  technical  grammar.  Teaching  a  child  is  training 
him  in  all  that  makes  him  better  as  well  as  wiser. 
Habits  describe  the  real  differences  between  men. 

"  111  habits  gather  by  unseen  degrees, 
As  brooks  make  rivers,  rivers  run  to  seas." 

A  study  of  these  simple  facts  should  convince  the 
youngest  teacher  that  he  ought  to  know  something  of 
psychology  and  of  correct  methods  of  instruction.  The 
teacher  who  knows  nothing  of  psychology  must  copy 
the  methods  of  others.  If  he  copies  after  good  models, 
he  may  succeed  as  a  teacher;  if  he  copies  after  bad 
models,  he  must  fail  as  a  teacher.  In  either  case  he  is 
a  machine.  His  instruction  must  lack  the  force  of  per- 
sonal power;  it  must  lack  the  enthusiasm  which  com- 
pels attention  and  which  leads  pupils  to  independent 
thinking.  He  will  be  afraid  to  venture  beyond  the 
traditional  routine  of  his  models.  The  work  of  the 
school  or  of  life  in  general  cannot  be  well  done  mechan- 
ically. Every  successful  teacher  is  partly  original. 
Success  depends  more  upon  what  is  within  than  upon 
what  is  without. 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  teacher  of  average  ability 
should  not  understand  the  foundation  facts  of  school 
room  psychology.  They  are  easily  learned  and  easily 
applied.  Many  earnest  and  inspiring  teachers  have 
studied  text-book  psychology  without  interest  or  profit. 
They  have  studied  words  but  not  the  subject.  Psychol- 
ogy is  a  study  of  the  self.  It  cannot  be  learned  from 
text-books  alone.  In  the  text-books  we  may  find  the 
facts  of  psychology,  but  not  the  subject  of  study.  Text- 
book facts  can  only  aid  one  in  the  study  of  the  laws 
which  govern  the  actions  of  his  own  mind. 


FOUNDATION  FACTS.  93 

No  one  without  some  knowledge  of  the  laws  which 
govern  the  operations  of  his  own  mind  is  consciously 
certain  that  his  methods  of  instruction  are  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  which  govern  the  minds  of  others.  The 
study  of  psychology  is  a  study  of  mental  processes  and 
products  rather  than  a  study  of  text-books.  The  es- 
sential facts  of  educational  psychology  are  easily  within 
the  comprehension  of  the  average  high  school  pupil  and 
should  be  mastered  during  the  high  school  course. 

Teacher,  learn  how  your  own  mind  acts  that  you 
may  know  how  the  minds  of  your  pupils  act.  By  be- 
coming thoroughly  acquainted  with  yourself,  you  will 
better  understand  your  pupils.  By  learning  how  you 
acquire  knowledge  you  will  learn  how  to  instruct  others. 
If  you  would  know  the  laws  which  govern  the  growth 
of  mind,  you  must  experiment  with  your  own  mind. 
In  the  study  of  psychology  the  need  of  experiment  with 
the  self  is  exceedingly  great.  The  general  facts  of  psy- 
chology are  best  seen  in  the  inductive  processes  which 
discovered  them.  Every  teacher  must  discover  these 
facts  for  himself  through  a  study  of  self.  Read  psy- 
chologies, but  study  self. 

Classroom  psychology  is  the  psychology  needed  in 
the  schoolroom.  With  the  crude  speculations  of  the 
physiological  psychologist  the  practical  teacher  is  not 
concerned,  but  with  the  everyday  facts  of  educational 
psychology  he  should  be  deeply  concerned.  A  conscious 
knowledge  of  the  essential  facts  of  schoolroom  psy- 
chology is  all  that  the  individual  teacher  needs  whether 
he  teaches  a  country  school  or  fills  a  chair  in  Harvard 
or  Yale.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subjects  he 
teaches;  a  clear  idea  of  the  function  of  a  school;  a  well 


94  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

defined  purpose  enlarged  and  emphasized  by  tact,  sym- 
pathy, interest  and  energy — these  are  the  essentials  in 
the  make-up  of  a  successful  teacher.  The  presence  of  a 
breathing  teacher  inspired  with  the  zeal  born  of  a  love  of 
children  is  the  real  need  of  a  large  majority  of  our  schools. 
Correct  teaching  is  the  product  of  ample  knowledge  of 
the  subjects  taught,  sound  methods,  and  tact  in  apply- 
ing them.  The  ability  to  inspire,  command,  direct, 
and  save  is  the  teacher's  greatest  need.  A  teacher's 
value  depends  upon  his  power  to  stimulate  mental  ac- 
tivity among  his  pupils.  A  teacher  should  feel  the 
needs  of  his  pupils.  Bach  special  aim  should  be  a  part 
of  the  universal  aim — the  harmonious  development  of 
all  the  powers  of  the  soul — life  itself.  The  mission  of 
the  teacher  is  too  grand  and  too  responsible  to  be  en- 
trusted to  a  mere  time-server  or  a  creature  of  chance, 
sympathy  or  local  favoritism. 

Psychology  is  the  basis  of  the  science  of  education. 
A  teacher  should  know  why  he  teaches  a  subject,  and 
why  he  prefers  his  method  of  teaching  to  other  methods. 
He  should  know  how  the  mind  grows  and  the  effect 
that  the  study  of  any  subject  will  have  upon  it.  A 
teacher  should  know  that  the  aim  and  end  of  teaching 
is  mental  power,  not  an  accumulation  of  facts.  He 
should  know  that  the  function  of  the  school  is  to  train 
the  child  for  complete  living.  He  should  know  that 
the  school  is  only  a  means  to  an  and,  and  that  the  true 
end  of  education  is  right  conduct.  He  should  know 
that  the  chief  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  teach,  not  to 
preach.  Teaching  is  action,  preaching,  precept.  Mere 
belief  is  passive;  action,  persuasive.  To  believe  merely 
is  to  exist  merely;  to  do  is  to  live. 


FOUNDATION  FACTS.  95 

"To  teach  mankind  some  truth 
So  dearly  purchased — only  then  I  found 
Such  teaching  was  an  art  requiring  cares 
And  qualities  peculiar  to  itself; 
That  to  possess  was  one  thing — to  display 
Another." 

A  teacher  should  know  that  knowledge  alone  is  in- 
sufficient, and  that  expert  knowledge  without  the  ability 
to  apply  it  is  dead  knowledge.  Professional  strength 
means  the  ability  to  apply  expert  knowledge.  The 
successful  physician  is  the  physician  who  knows  how 
to  apply  the  teachings  of  his  text-books  in  the  diagnosis 
and  the  treatment  of  disease.  It  is  so  with  the  success- 
ful teacher.  He  knows  the  subjects  he  teaches  and 
how  to  teach  them.  He  knows  that  a  memory  stored 
with  facts  without  the  ability  to  reason,  and  the  ability 
to  reason  without  facts  are  equally  sorry  conditions. 
He  knows  that  the  advantage  of  study  is  not  in  an  ac- 
cumulation of  facts  alone,  but  in  the  power  to  use  them 
as  the  basis  of  a  conclusion.  He  knows  that  the  mere 
recitation  of  text-book  facts  appeals  almost  exclusively 
to  the  memory  and  does  not,  cannot,  develop  the  power 
to  think,  to  observe,  to  do. 

The  outlook.  The  present  is  indeed  a  state  of  encoura- 
ging unrest.  Every  decade  makes  radical  changes  in 
the  subjects  taught  in  the  common  schools  and  in  the 
manner  of  teaching  them.  Much  experiment  is  yield- 
ing some  success.  The  methods  of  instruction  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  observational  and  objective  year 
by  year.  Parents  are  beginning  to  believe  that  the 
lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  their  children  is  due  to 
ignorance  of  proper  methods  on  the  part  of  teachers. 
Parents  are  beginning  to  demand  trained  men  and  women 


o6  PEDAGOGICAL  PEBBLES. 

for  teachers.  They  are  beginning  to  see  that  trained 
teachers  are  required  to  train  children.  They  are  be- 
ginning to  see  that  training  children  is  more  than 
recitation  hearing,  making  out  statistical  reports,  and 
pay  rolls.  They  are  beginning  to  see  that  the  great 
lessons  of  the  schools  are  learned  not  in  text-books  but 
from  teachers. 

As  new  and  better  methods  are  discovered,  tested,  and 
approved,  the  office  of  the  teacher  becomes  more  difficult 
to  fill.  The  demand  for  trained  teachers  is  steadily  on 
the  increase.  Machine  teachers  are  on  the  decline. 
Many  of  the  small  cities  have  established  training 
schools  and  States  are  building  more  Normal  schools. 
The  teacher  who  is  satisfied  with  his  present  attain- 
ments and  ideals  will  soon  be  placed  on  the  retired  list. 
The  teachers  of  to-day  must  meet  the  requirements  of 
to-day.  The  teacher  who  has  realized  his  ideals  has 
already  begun  to  decline  and  die. 

"There's  life  alone  in  duty  done, 
And  rest  alone  in  striving." 


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